〜ことか

About

Commonly translated as "God knows.../Goodness knows...", the ～ことか pattern is used to emphasize that a piece of information is unknown or to claim that the extent of something is so great that it may as well be unknown.

～ことか can attach directly to casual verbs/い-adjectives, to な-adjectives using な・である・であった・だった, or, occasionally, to nouns using である・だった.

E.g. 大変たいへんな時とき、どれだけこの曲きょくに救すくわれたことか。 "God knows just how much I was saved by this song during hard times."

E.g. 何度なんどこの会社かいしゃを辞やめたいと思おもったことか。 "Just how many times have I felt that I wanted to quit this company?"

E.g. メリオ・パーティーの発売はつばいをどれたけ待まったことか。 "God knows how long I've waited for Merio Party to go on sale."

～ことか statements are based on the speaker's own subjective view of how great the extent of "X" is.

～ことか is primarily used in written contexts.

The alternate forms 「ことだろう・ことだろうか」 are also possible.

Summary

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  ～ことか pattern is used to emphasize that a piece of information is unknown

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  ～ことか commonly translates to "God knows.../Goodness knows..."

• 

  ～ことか can attach directly to casual verbs/い-adjectives, to な-adjectives using な・である・であった・だった, or, occasionally, to nouns using である・だった

• 

  ～ことか statements are based on the speaker's own subjective view of how great the extent of "X" is