Question regarding Beginner Lesson #14

[terrysimons]

Hi,

I'm curious... In beginner lesson 14 an alternate (non-textbook) form of "where are you from" is given (doko kara kimashita).

Since this is a question, why is there no "ka" at the end (i.e. doko kara kimashita ka)? Is that a legal use of ka that is simply being omitted due to colloquial speech, or is there a reason why ka is not appropriate for this kind of question?

Thanks!

[Psy]

There's no reason why you couldn't use 'ka' in that situation. I think they just put it in there to let you know it's also perfectly legal to ask a question using only intonation. It is a bit feminine to do that with the 'masu' form, however.