How to Say ‘Is that so?’ in Japanese
そうですか。
sou desu ka
[soh dehs kah]
💬 Usage Tip: [そうですか] can mean “Oh, I see.” Tone matters: gentle = understanding; sharp = skeptical.
🇯🇵 In Japan: In polite neighbor talk, keep it light and calm—your intonation does a lot of social work.
Phrase Breakdown
そう
sou
[soh]
so / I see
In this phrase, そう expresses understanding/acknowledgment: “I see / Is that so?”
そうですか、気をつけます。
I see, I’ll be careful.
です
desu
[dehs]
to be (polite)
です makes the response polite. そうです = “That’s right / I see.”
そうです、すぐ小さくします。
Yes, I’ll turn it down right away.
か
ka
[kah]
question particle
か turns it into a question or a questioning acknowledgment: “I see?/Is that so?”
そうですか、わかりました。
I see, understood.
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