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Formation: V-plain / い-adj plain + か否か; N / な-adj stem (+ である) + か否か

か否か is the formal, written equivalent of 〜かどうか ("whether or not"). It is common in newspapers, academic writing, reports and official documents. It usually forms a noun clause followed by は, を, で or が (〜か否かは不明だ, 〜か否かを判断する), and it also combines with 〜を問わず or 〜にかかわらず. In casual speech it sounds stiff, so use かどうか there. Don't confuse it with 〜や否や, which also contains 否 but means "as soon as". 〜（よ）うが〜まいが also means "whether or not", but it means "regardless of whether" and is followed by a main clause that doesn't change.

Variants: か否かを問わず、か否かにかかわらず

Examples

• 新薬が有効か否かは、まだ明らかではない。
  Whether or not the new drug is effective is not yet clear.
• 増税に賛成するか否かで、世論は二分している。
  Public opinion is split over whether or not to support the tax increase.
• 計画を実行すべきか否か、慎重に検討する必要がある。
  We need to consider carefully whether or not the plan should go ahead.

In real texts 0 occurrence(s)

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