How to Say ‘It was a detour’ in Japanese
遠回りだった
toomawari datsu ta
[toh-oh-mah-wah-ree daht tah]
💬 Usage Tip: [だった] is the past form used after a noun here, so [遠回りだった] means "it was a detour." You'll use the same pattern with other nouns: [渋滞だった] ("it was traffic").
Phrase Breakdown
遠回り
toomawari
[toh-oh-mah-wah-ree]
detour; going the long way
Refers to the route as a detour.
遠回りだったと思います。
I think it was a detour.
だっ
datsu
[daht]
was (part of past casual form)
Part of だった, the casual past form of だ.
遠回りだったので確認しました。
Because it was a detour, I checked.
た
ta
[tah]
past marker part
Completes だった, meaning “was.”
遠回りだったと感じました。
I felt that it was a detour.
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