Direct and indirect questions in Japanese
Direct and indirect questions in Japanese — no word order change needed, and how embedded questions work. Plus ～にもほどがある. Examples from Demon Slayer: Mugen Train.
Inosuke: 俺外に出て走るから！どっちが速いか競争する！ → I'm going outside to run! We'll race to see who's faster!
外 (そと) = outside
出て走る = get out and run — て form connects two verbs, working like English "and"
どっち = which one of the two; who (between two people)
速い (はやい) = fast [speed of movement]
競争 (きょうそう) = race; contest [suru verb]
Note: 速い vs 早い — both read はやい, but 速い refers to speed of movement; 早い refers to being early or doing something ahead of time.
Indirect questions in Japanese
In English, indirect questions require a word order change:
Where is the dog? (direct — inverted word order) I know where the dog is. (indirect — affirmative word order)
In Japanese, no such change happens. An indirect question is simply a casual direct question embedded inside a longer sentence. The structure:
[casual question] + か + [main clause]
犬はどこにいるか知っています。 → I know where my dog is.
Remove 知っています and you're left with the direct question: 犬はどこにいるか — "Where is the dog?" The embedded version is identical to the direct question; only the surrounding phrase changes.
More examples:
誰がクッキーを食べたか知りたい！ → I want to know who ate my cookie!
彼女が来るかどうか分からない。 → I don't know whether she'll come.
Phrases that commonly introduce indirect questions: 知っている、知りたい、分からない、聞いてみて、気になる — and more. Any phrase that creates a frame for "knowing" or "wondering" can host an embedded question.
Back to Inosuke
どっちが速いか競争する → We'll race to see who's faster.
どっちが速いか is the embedded question — "who is faster (of the two)" — and 競争する is the main verb. Together: let's race to find out the answer to that question.
どっち is used when comparing exactly two things or people. For three or more, use どれ (things) or 誰 (people).
Note: Indirect questions and relative clauses use the same question words (who, where, etc.) in English, which can cause confusion. The test: a relative clause adds information about a noun ("the book which you were looking for") — an indirect question is embedded inside a knowledge/wonder phrase ("I know where the dog is"). In Japanese the distinction is cleaner — relative clauses don't use か.
～にもほどがある
Zenitsu: 馬鹿にも程があるだろ！！ → You can't possibly be that dumb!
馬鹿 (ばか) = idiot; fool
程 (ほど) = extent; limit; degree
だろ = casual だろう — seeking confirmation; "right?"
～にもほどがある is a fixed expression meaning "there's a limit to ~" — used when something has gone way too far in a negative direction.
[noun / adjective] + にもほどがある
= there's a limit to how [adjective] something can be; this is too much
図々しいにもほどがある。 → You have some nerve. / There's a limit to how shameless you can be.
冗談にもほどがある。 → This has gone way beyond a joke.
It can also be used positively in casual speech, usually ironically:
かわいいにもほどがある。 → This is way too cute. (said in admiration)
