The use of か [ka]


So I've been wondering around, thinking about if it would be wrong to use the
character か after the shortened phrase 元気。That is 元気 as in [ お元気ですか？]. Would
it still mean the same if you did it like this [元気か] or would that be
grammatically incorrect? The point is to make certain to the person talking to
that it is a question and that you are not just saying "fine".




"元気か?" is grammatical, but it tends to sound fairly blunt and/or haughty. In
fiction, an old man, a stereotyped strict father or a yakuza boss may say
this. Usually "元気?" _with a rising intonation_ is used in friendly and casual
conversations.

If such a question is not directly cast to a person, "noun/na-adj + か" may be
more acceptable. People often say "マジか?" or "アホか?" when they saw something
unbelievable, although these still sound a little rough.

