その店が安いかどうか聞きました。
- I asked whether that store is cheap.

その店が安いかどうか聞きました。 meaning: I asked whether that store was cheap.

⚫︎ The sentence その店が安いかどうか聞きました。 translates to "I asked whether that store was cheap." It demonstrates a common pattern in Japanese: reporting what someone else said or what was thought. This sentence is an example of indirect speech. ⚫︎ Notice the structure: * Subject (implied: "I") * 聞きました - The past tense of the verb 聞く (to ask/hear). * その店が安いかどうか- This is a subordinate clause that functions as the object of the verb 聞きました. It means "whether that store is cheap." * The particle が marks the subject of the clause 安いかどうか. * The question particle か is attached to the adjective 安い (cheap), modifying its meaning and creating a question, which is incorporated into the verb聞きました.

⚫︎ The pattern かどうか is used to express "whether or not" or "if." It is added to the end of a clause to create an indirect question. ⚫︎ It is formed by attaching か (question particle) and どうか (how) to the end of a clause. ⚫︎ Often, the clause that precedes かどうか contains information that is questioned. ⚫︎ Examples: * 行きますかどうか - whether or not (I) will go * 食べますかどうか - whether or not (I) will eat * 雨が降るかどうか - whether or not it will rain * 彼が来るかどうか- whether or not he will come ⚫︎ In this sentence, the clause is その店が安い, and the かどうか makes it mean "whether that store is cheap." ⚫︎ The structure is: [Clause] + かどうか

⚫︎ The particle が functions as a subject marker, indicating the subject of the sentence or clause. ⚫︎ It highlights the subject. ⚫︎ In this example, その店 (that store) is the subject of the clause その店が安い. The が particle shows this. ⚫︎ Example: 猫がいます - There is a cat / A cat is present. Here, 猫 is the subject, and が marks it. ⚫︎ Contrast with は. は is the topic marker, which identifies what the sentence is about. * Example: 私は学生です - As for me, I am a student. (I am a student).

⚫︎ 安い is an い-adjective (also known as "i-adjective"). These adjectives end in the sound "-i". ⚫︎ They conjugate to express different tenses, politeness levels, and states. ⚫︎ Here's a quick conjugation overview relevant to this sentence: * 安い - Present/Future, plain form (cheap) * 安かった - Past, plain form (was cheap) * 安いです - Present/Future, polite form (is cheap/will be cheap) * 安かったです - Past, polite form (was cheap) ⚫︎ Note that the base form is used when forming questions with かどうか. In this case, it is安い.

⚫︎ 聞きました comes from the verb 聞く (to ask/hear). ⚫︎ The sentence uses the past polite form 聞きました. ⚫︎ Basic verb conjugation: * 聞く - plain present/future (to ask/hear) * 聞いた - plain past (asked/heard) * 聞きます - polite present/future (ask/hear) * 聞きました - polite past (asked/heard) ⚫︎ The stem of 聞く is 聞き, which is what you add to to create variations, such as 聞きました (polite past). The stem is also used to create the te-form 聞いて.