How to Say ‘How was it? (polite)’ in Japanese
どうでしたか
dou deshi ta ka
[doh desh tah kah]
💬 Usage Tip: [どうでしたか] is a polite past-tense “How was it?” Great for asking about what happened or how something went.
🇯🇵 In Japan: In Japanese medical talk, questions are often phrased gently like this rather than very direct yes/no questions.
Phrase Breakdown
どう
dou
[doh]
how; in what way
Used to ask “How was it?” In a clinic, it’s common when asking about results or a condition.
検査のけっかはどうでしたか。
How were the test results?
でし
deshi
[desh]
(polite copula stem)
Part of でした (past polite ‘to be’). Used in polite questions like どうでしたか.
痛みはどうでし、たしかめましょう。
Let’s check how the pain is.
た
ta
[tah]
was/did (past ending, part of でした)
Completes でした (was/were) in polite past tense.
きのうはだいじょうぶでした。
Yesterday, it was okay.
か
ka
[kah]
question marker
Placed at the end to make a question in polite Japanese.
けっかはどうでしたか。
How were the results?
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