Learn Hardcore Japanese: watasi ha syourai doko de hataraku ka yoku kangaemasu. - I often think about where I will work in the future.

In Japanese, subordinate clauses (clauses before things like か, と, から, and before nouns) almost always use the plain (dictionary) form, regardless of the politeness of the main verb.

Here:

Subordinate (embedded question) clause: どこで働くか → plain 働く
Main predicate: 考えます → polite ます form

Using 働きます inside would be ungrammatical:

✅ どこで働くか考えます。
❌ どこで働きますか考えます。

Other examples:

何を買うか決めました。 (not 買いますか)
どこに住むか知っています。 (not 住みますか)

Why is it どこで and not どこに?

The particle choice is about the role of the place:

で: place where an action happens
に:
- destination / direction (go to X)
- place of existence (there is X in Y)

Working is an action you perform at a place, so you use で:

どこで働く – where (at what place) will I work?

Compare:

どこで勉強しますか。 – At what place do you study?
どこに行きますか。 – Where are you going (to)?
どこに会社がありますか。 – Where is the company?

どこに働く is basically incorrect in standard Japanese.

Should there be an を after か, like どこで働くかをよく考えます?

Grammatically, yes, you can say:

将来どこで働くかをよく考えます。

Here, どこで働くか is the direct object of 考えます, so を is possible.

However, in natural Japanese, を is often dropped when:

the object is long or clause‑like, and
the verb is a mental/abstract verb like 考える, 分かる, 知る, 覚えている.

So both are natural:

将来どこで働くかよく考えます。
将来どこで働くかをよく考えます。 (a bit more explicit / formal)

In this sentence the version without を is very common.

Does よく here mean “often” or “well”? How do I know?

よく has a few main uses:

Often / frequently
- よく映画を見ます。 – I often watch movies.
Well / properly / thoroughly
- 日本語がよく分かります。 – I understand Japanese well.
- よく考えてください。 – Please think it over carefully.
Colloquial intensifier (“really, so”):
- よくそんなこと言えるね。 – I can’t believe you can say that.

With 考えます, both “often” and “carefully / a lot” are possible in principle. In this specific sentence, it very naturally reads as:

“I often think about where I’ll work in the future.”

If the context were about how carefully you think (not how often), it could also mean:

“I think very carefully about where I’ll work in the future.”

So: meaning is chosen by context. Grammatically, both ‘often’ and ‘well/thoroughly’ are possible readings for よく with 考える.

Why is there no particle after 将来? Should it be 将来に or 将来は?

Time expressions in Japanese are often used without any particle when they just state when something happens:

今日学校に行きます。
明日映画を見ます。
来年日本に行きます。

将来 behaves the same way:

将来どこで働くかよく考えます。
→ “(I) often think about where (I) will work in the future.”

You could use particles, but the nuance changes:

将来に
- Used in more abstract “in/for the future” senses:
  - その決定は将来に影響します。 – That decision will affect the future.
- Not needed here.
将来はどこで働くかよく考えます。
- は makes 将来 a topic/contrast:
  - As for my future, I often think where I’ll work.
  - Nuance: you’re especially highlighting your future.

So the particleless 将来 in the original is the most natural for a simple “in the future” time phrase.

What is the role of は after 私, and could I use が or drop 私 altogether?

私は marks 私 as the topic:
- “As for me, (I) often think about where I’ll work in the future.”
In a neutral statement about yourself, 私は〜 is standard and natural.

Using が instead:

私が将来どこで働くかよく考えます。
This strongly emphasizes I as the one doing the thinking (e.g., “It’s me who thinks a lot about … (not someone else)”).

Dropping 私:

将来どこで働くかよく考えます。
This is also perfectly natural. Japanese often omits the subject when it’s clear from context. In most real conversations, this is what you’d say after it’s established you’re talking about yourself.

Does 考えます here mean “I am thinking now” or “I often think (habitually)”?

考えます is non‑past and can express:

a general / habitual action
a future action
sometimes a present state

Here, よく (often) clearly indicates a habitual meaning:

(私は) 将来どこで働くかよく考えます。
→ “I often think about where I will work in the future.”

If you wanted to say “I am (right now) thinking about where I will work in the future,” you would typically use the progressive:

今、将来どこで働くか考えています。

Can よく be put somewhere else in the sentence?

The most natural place for よく is right before the verb it modifies:

将来どこで働くかよく考えます。 ✅

Other possibilities:

よく将来どこで働くか考えます。
– Also grammatical; puts a slight emphasis on the frequency (“I often do this thing of thinking about where I’ll work in the future.”)

Generally avoid:

将来どこで働くか考えますよく。 ❌ (unnatural)
Splitting よく into the middle of どこで働くか.

Safest rule: put よく immediately before 考えます (or before the whole VP it modifies).

Why do we use か and not かどうか in this sentence?

かどうか is used for yes/no (“whether”) questions, where there is no question word like 何, どこ, いつ, etc.

行くかどうか分かりません。 – I don’t know whether (I) will go.
雨が降るかどうか知っていますか。 – Do you know whether it will rain?

When you already have a question word (like どこ), you use just か, not かどうか:

どこで働くか – where (I) will work
何を食べるか – what (I) will eat
いつ会うか – when (we) will meet

So:

✅ どこで働くか考えます。
❌ どこで働くかどうか考えます。

How does 将来どこで働くかよく考えます differ from 将来どこで働きたいかよく考えます?

The verb change shifts the focus of the thinking:

将来どこで働くかよく考えます。
→ I often think about where I will work in the future.
(more like planning / predicting what will actually happen)
将来どこで働きたいかよく考えます。
→ I often think about where I want to work in the future.
(focus on your desires / preferences)

Both are grammatically correct; you choose the verb based on the meaning you want.

Could I say 将来どこで働くかについてよく考えます? What does について change?

Yes, you can say:

将来どこで働くかについてよく考えます。

Here:

[将来どこで働くか] + について
literally: “about the matter of where I will work in the future”.

Nuance:

Without について:
- 将来どこで働くかよく考えます。
  → straightforward, natural, everyday style.
With について:
- adds a slightly more formal / written feel, explicitly marking it as a topic/subject of consideration.

In everyday conversation, you normally don’t need について here; the original sentence is already natural and complete.