How to Say ‘How can I help you?’ in Japanese
どうされましたか。
dou sa re mashi ta ka
[doh sah reh mah-shee tah kah]
🇯🇵 In Japan: Staff may say this instead of a direct "What do you want?" It is polite, standard customer-service wording for inviting your question.
Phrase Breakdown
どう
dou
[doh]
how; what
Here it helps ask what happened or what the matter is.
どうされましたか。
What can I help you with?
さ
sa
[sah]
do (honorific stem part)
Part of されました, the respectful form of しました.
どうされましたか。
What can I help you with?
れ
re
[reh]
do (honorific stem part)
Part of the respectful verb form されました.
どうされましたか。
What can I help you with?
まし
mashi
[mah-shee]
did (polite past stem)
Part of the polite past form in a respectful question.
どうされましたか。
What can I help you with?
た
ta
[tah]
past tense marker
Marks the action as past in this polite expression.
どうされましたか。
What can I help you with?
か
ka
[kah]
question marker
Turns the sentence into a question.
どうされましたか。
What can I help you with?
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