And then what
Conversation phrases, Stage 1chunk 40 of 68Asking and following up
Pushes a story forward to the next part.
- sore de?and then?; so?
- nani ga atta no?what happened?
- dou natta no?how did it turn out?; so what happened?
- nani naniwhat, what?; tell me!
- hoka ni wa?what else?; anything else?
Mix-ups A flat sore de? sounds impatient; nani nani is eager, not suspicious.
sore de?
and then?; so?
Prompts the speaker to go on; said flat and falling, it can sound like an impatient 'so what?'.
Also starts your own next step in a story: sore de, kaetta, 'so I went home'.
sore de? kanojo wa nante itta no?
And then? What did she say?
それで？彼女は何て言ったの？
sore de, kanojo wa nante itta n desu ka?
And then what did she say?
それで、彼女は何て言ったんですか？
Written それで？Who you say it and hear itHeard 1029× in 3.17 million lines of film and TV subtitles
nani ga atta no?
polite nani ga atta n desu ka?
what happened?
Asking with concern when someone looks upset or something is clearly wrong.
Dou shita no? ('what's wrong?') is the softer near-twin.
kaoiro warui yo. nani ga atta no?
You look pale. What happened?
顔色悪いよ。何があったの？
kaoiro ga warui desu yo. nani ga atta n desu ka?
You look pale. What happened?
顔色が悪いですよ。何があったんですか？
Written 何があったの？ · なにがあったの？ · 何があったんですか？Who you say it and hear itHeard 865× in 3.17 million lines of film and TV subtitles
dou natta no?
polite dou natta n desu ka?
how did it turn out?; so what happened?
Asking for the outcome of something you heard about earlier, like an interview or a fight.
Nani ga atta no? asks what happened; dou natta no? asks how it ended.
kinou no mensetsu, dou natta no?
How did yesterday's interview go?
昨日の面接、どうなったの？
kinou no mensetsu wa dou natta n desu ka?
How did yesterday's interview go?
昨日の面接はどうなったんですか？
Written どうなったの？ · どうなったんですか？Who you say it and hear itHeard 162× in 3.17 million lines of film and TV subtitles
nani nani
what, what?; tell me!
Eager reaction when you overhear something interesting and want in.
nani nani? nan no hanashi?
What, what? What are you talking about?
なになに？何の話？
Written なになにWho you say itHeard 11× in 3.17 million lines of film and TV subtitles
hoka ni wa?
what else?; anything else?
Asking for more items or details after someone has listed a few.
Staff check you've finished ordering with ijou de yoroshii desu ka? ('will that be all?').
pan to gyuunyuu ne. hoka ni wa?
Bread and milk, got it. What else?
パンと牛乳ね。他には？
pan to gyuunyuu desu ne. hoka ni wa arimasu ka?
Bread and milk. Anything else?
パンと牛乳ですね。他にはありますか？
Written 他には？ · ほかには？Who you say it and hear itHeard 375× in 3.17 million lines of film and TV subtitles