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How to Say ‘How about Emily Smith?’ in Japanese

Emily Smith さんはどうですか。

^FIRST^ ^LAST^ san wa dou desu ka

[sahn wah doh dess kah]

💬 Usage Tip: This pattern is very useful: [X は どうですか] = "How about X?" You can swap in almost anything, like [お仕事はどうですか。] or [体調はどうですか。]

Phrase Breakdown

さんは

san wa

Words in this phrase

さん

san

[sahn]

Mr. / Ms. / respectful suffix

A polite suffix used after a person's name.

Example

田中さんはどうですか。

How is Mr. Tanaka?

wa

[wah]

topic marker

Marks the named person as the topic of the question.

Example

田中さんは元気です。

Mr. Tanaka is well.

どうですか

dou desu ka

Words in this phrase

どう

dou

[doh]

how / what about

Asks about the condition or situation of the person mentioned.

Example

どうですかと聞きました。

I asked, 'How is it?'

です

desu

[dess]

is / am / are

A polite copula used in the question.

Example

田中さんはどうですか。

How is Mr. Tanaka?

ka

[kah]

question marker

Placed at the end to make the phrase a question.

Example

元気ですか。

Are you well?

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