sentence final かな (か+な)

[tanuki]

Hello, people!

I wanted to ask about the sentence ending かな (か+な).

I learned that it's used to express that you're wondering something, but I didn't get many examples, so I'm wondering if I can use it right. Are these sentences correct?

"I wonder if I will be good at Japanese"
日本語が上手になるかな。

"I wonder if he came yesterday"
彼は昨日来たかな。

"I wonder if she really didn't eat anything today"
彼女は今日本当に何も食べなかったかな。 (oops, I think that was too complex a sentence for me )


And one last question. I read it's used mostly by males, so I suppose its use is rather colloquial. However, I wondered if it could also be used in polite speech, like:

日本語が上手になりますかな。 (or should I use 〜なるでしょう or something like that?).

Thanks a lot in advance for your help! And plase have no mercy correcting my sentences, I want to learn from my mistakes .

[hungryhotei]

I don't think that かな　is really that gendered. Only a little.

To answer the question 'can I say this?' my first stop is always google.
http://tinyurl.com/r49om

Theres nothing really wrong with the examples you gave but I like the way goo explains it so'll I'll post that up here.

(1)軽い詠嘆の気持ちを込めた疑問の意を浮ｷ。
1) Expressing a doubt with some feelings of exclaimation/admiration:
「あの人はひとりでうまくやれる＝v「どうしてそんなに怖いの＝v

(2)自分自身に問いかける気持ちを浮ｷ。
2) Expressing a feeling of asking a question to oneself:
「お茶でも飲もう＝v「もうそろそろ向こうに着く時分＝v

(3)（「ないかな」の形で）願望の意を浮ｷ。
3) In the form nai kana, expressing desire/wish:
「だれか来ない＝v「はやく帰らない＝v

I hope this helps!

[tanuki]

Cool, thanks. Could you please also give the translations to the examples?

(Oh, and if I understood it right, かな can be used politely, right?)

[coco]

Tanuki-san こんにちは。
ending かな is very common word in daily conversation. So I think your question is very helpful for other learners too. But I'm afraid I can not explain enough because of my engrish.
So please use ALC with the word かな. You can see many example sentences.

tanuki wrote:
(Oh, and if I understood it right, かな can be used politely, right?)

かな in usage (1) is not used for 目上の人.
Basically かな ( in modern usage ) is used for friends or used when you talk to yourself --"murmur aloud"(?) .

あの人は一人で大丈夫でしょうか is more formal speech than あの人は一人でうまくやれるかな。

Could you please also give the translations to the examples?

Tanuki-san, as you know I can't translate it into English.
English sentences may be wrong, ( gave it up.)
I hope someone can help us.

すみませんが、下記をうまく英語で訳せる人、助けてくれませんか。
(1)
1-1)「あの人はひとりでうまくやれるかな」
1-2)「どうしてそんなに怖いのかな」
説明によると、これは疑問文扱いになりそうですが、
1-1だと wonderになるのではないかと思います。
1-1)
I wonder if he/she can handle (it) by himself/herself. ------???

1-2)
Why are you so scared? -----???
Why is he/she so scared? -------???
how come you(he/she) get so scared? ------???-

(2)
2-1)「お茶でも飲もうかな」
2-2)「もうそろそろ向こうに着く頃かな」
(時分 is hardly used among under 40's)
2-1)はLet me/ I'm going to が使えるのかな? ( この"かな"はwonder)
2-2)は wonder が使えそうです。

(3)
3-1)「誰か来ないかな」
3-2)「早く帰らないかな」
これは 疑問文ではなく要望/欲求ですから
hope/wish に近い使い方じゃないかと思うけど…。
　

[richvh]

(1)
1-1)「あの人はひとりでうまくやれるかな」
I wonder if he can do it by himself?
1-2)「どうしてそんなに怖いのかな」
Why are you so scared?

(2)
2-1)「お茶でも飲もうかな」
I want to drink some tea or something.
2-2)「もうそろそろ向こうに着く頃かな」
I wonder if it's about time for him to get there?

(3)
3-1)「誰か来ないかな」
I wish someone would come.
3-2)「早く帰らないかな」
I hope he goes home/leaves soon.

[coco]

Rich-san
訳文を載せてくださって、ありがとうございます。
これらの文章の意味を考える上で重要なのは「主語は何か」ということです。

他に「ていねいさ」について説明したいのですが、Rich-sanの助けを借りてチャットでやりましょう。
If you don't understand feel free to ask in the chatroom or here.

[skrhgh3b]

tanuki wrote:
(Oh, and if I understood it right, かな can be used politely, right?)

かな is a casual expression, but if I remember correctly, I was taught that でしょうかね is a polite expression you can also use.