How do you say "How was it?/How did it go?" in Japanese?

"How was it?/How did it go?" in Japanese is "どうでしたか。". This phrase is commonly used in Japan.

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How to Say ‘How was it?/How did it go?’ in Japanese

Q: What does "どうでしたか。" mean in English?

"どうでしたか。" means "How was it?/How did it go?" in English. Usage tip: Super flexible phrase. Use it to ask about anything that happened: [けんさ、どうでしたか。] Also common in daily life like [旅行はどうでしたか。].

どうでしたか。

dou deshi ta ka

[doh desh tah kah]

💬 Usage Tip: Super flexible phrase. Use it to ask about anything that happened: [けんさ、どうでしたか。] Also common in daily life like [旅行はどうでしたか。].

🇯🇵 In Japan: In clinics, this can sound a bit casual; adding [先生、] or specifying [けっか] makes it clearer and politely focused.

Phrase Breakdown

どう

dou

[doh]

how; in what way

どう is used to ask “how was it?” or “how is it?” Often paired with でしたか to ask about the outcome/condition.

Example

けっかはどうでしたか。

How were the results?

でした

deshi ta

was (polite past)

Past polite form of です. Connects to a state/description in the past: “was.”

Example

きのうはいそがしかったです。

I was busy yesterday.

Words in this phrase

でし

deshi

[desh]

was (polite) (part of でした)

でし is part of でした, the polite past form of です. It helps make a polite question about the past.

Example

もうけっかはでしったと聞きましたか。

Have you already heard that the results were out?

た

[tah]

past marker (part of でした)

た completes でした (was/were). It indicates past tense in polite speech.

Example

きのうのけんさはどうでしたかと聞かれました。

I was asked, “How was yesterday’s test?”

か

[kah]

question particle

か turns a statement into a question. In medical questions it makes the tone polite and clear.

Example

いまけっかを聞いてもいいですか。

May I ask about the results now?

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