How to Say ‘What's wrong?’ in Japanese
どうしましたか。
dou shi mashi ta ka
[doh shee mah-shee ta kah]
🇯🇵 In Japan: This doesn't assume anything is wrong. It's a friendly opener a colleague uses to invite you to say what you need.
Phrase Breakdown
どう
dou
[doh]
how; what
Used to ask what should be done.
どうすればいいですか。
What should I do?
し
shi
[shee]
do (stem)
The stem of する, used to turn nouns like 確認 into verbs such as 'to check.'
確認しお願いします。
Please check it.
まし
mashi
[mah-shee]
polite past stem
Part of the polite past ending in a verb phrase.
昨日は多くのことを学びました。
I learned many things yesterday.
た
ta
[ta]
past tense ending
This marks the action as completed in the past.
スタッフが来ました。
The staff member came.
か
ka
[kah]
question particle
か is placed at the end of a sentence to mark it as a question in polite Japanese.
先生ですか。
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