How to Say ‘Which part was hard to understand?’ in Japanese
どこがわかりにくかったですか。
doko ga wakari nikukatsu ta desu ka
[doh-koh gah wakari nee-KOO-kat ta dess kah]
💬 Usage Tip: Add にくい to the stem of an action word to say it's hard to do. わかる becomes わかりにくい, and 読む "to read" becomes 読みにくい "hard to read".
Phrase Breakdown
どこが
doko ga
which part / where
どこ means 'where' or 'which part'. が marks it as the subject of the question.
どこが痛いですか。
Where does it hurt?
Words in this phrase
どこ
doko
[doh-koh]
where; which part
In symptom questions, どこが…? means “Where (on your body) …?”
どこが痛いですか。
Where does it hurt?
が
ga
[gah]
subject marker
が marks what “came out”: “The results (are what) came out.” Natural for announcements from staff/doctor.
けっかがでましたので、説明します。
Since the results are out, I’ll explain.
わかりにくかったですか。
wakari nikukatsu ta desu ka
was hard to understand?
わかりにくい means 'hard to understand'. かった makes it past tense, and ですか makes it a polite question.
この説明はわかりにくかったですか。
Was this explanation hard to understand?
Words in this phrase
わかり
wakari
[wakari]
to understand
Indicates comprehension or agreement.
先生がわかりました。
I understood the teacher.
にくかっ
nikukatsu
[nee-KOO-kat]
was hard to (do)
Past form of the suffix -nikui, meaning something is difficult to do; attaches to a verb stem.
この字は読みにくかった。
These letters were hard to read.
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.
です
desu
[dess]
is; polite copula
Polite form of 'to be' used in many basic sentences.
こちらで大丈夫です。
This is fine.
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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