How to Say ‘Which part was hard?’ in Japanese
どこが難しかったですか。
doko ga muzukashikatsu ta desu ka
[doh-koh gah moo-zoo-kah-SHEE-kaht ta dess kah]
💬 Usage Tip: 難しい "difficult" becomes past tense by swapping the final い for かった: 難しかった "was difficult". The same works for 高い → 高かった "was expensive".
Phrase Breakdown
どこが
doko ga
which part / where
どこ (doko) means 'where' or 'which part', and が marks it as the subject.
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.
難しかったですか。
muzukashikatsu ta desu ka
was difficult?
This is the past form of 難しい (muzukashii, 'difficult'). Pause on the double 't' in -katta.
テストは難しかったですか。
Was the test difficult?
Words in this phrase
難しかっ
muzukashikatsu
[moo-zoo-kah-SHEE-kaht]
was difficult
Past stem of the adjective 難しい (difficult), used before た.
テストは難しかったです。
The test was difficult.
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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