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> その日も彼は、森の人々が町にやってきて悪さをしないか、森の見回りをしていた

What does the "か" mean here? is it an "if" or is it something else? Or am I
overthinking this?
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2022-10-30T23:31:16.290
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2022-10-31T00:23:43.007
2022-10-31T00:23:43.007
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particles embedded-question
か in その日も彼は、森の人々が町にやってきて悪さをしないか、森の見回りをしていた
You need to complement an appropriate verb after か, like _**to
see/check/verify** if_.

So the sentence means _That day he was patrolling around the woods **to see**
if the people there come to town and behave badly._

* * *

Normally those _to see_ etc. are omitted.

  * 新情報がないか(どうか)ウェブで調べた Searched on the web (to see) if new info comes up
  * 壊れてないか起動してみる (e.g. after spilling water over PC) Try booting the device (to check) if it isn't broken

Inserting (か)調べるために/確かめるために in the above sentences would sound lengthy.
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2022-10-31T00:11:20.173
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