Asking about words

Stage 3Responses, reactions, fillers & social phrasesChunk 17 of 32 · items 305–307 of 484

The learner's extraction tools: get a word explained, a meaning cleared up, or the Japanese supplied.

Mix-ups

-tte nani? asks what something is, dou iu imi? asks what it means or what someone meant, and nihongo de nante iu? goes from English or a gesture to the Japanese.

-tte nani?

polite -tte nan desu kadrama rank —none

what's X?

〜って何？ ってなにPlay 〜って何ですかPlay

Put any unknown word in front ('X tte nani?') to get it explained. It also asks what a thing is.

casualPlay

sore tte nani?

What's that?

それって何？

politePlay

sore tte nan desu ka?

What is that?

それって何ですか？

nani becomes nan before desu: 'X tte nan desu ka'.

Learn alongside: dou iu imi?, nihongo de nante iu?Learn first: nani

dou iu imi?

polite dou iu imi desu kaset phrasedrama rank —none

what do you mean?

どういう意味？ どういういみPlay どういう意味ですかPlay

Asks what a word means, or what someone meant by what they said.

casualPlay

sore tte dou iu imi?

What do you mean by that?

それってどういう意味？

politePlay

sore tte dou iu imi desu ka?

What do you mean by that?

それってどういう意味ですか？

Said sharply, it means 'what's that supposed to mean?'

Learn alongside: -tte nani?, nihongo de nante iu?Learn first: dou

nihongo de nante iu?

polite nihongo de nante iimasu kaset phrasedrama rank —none

what's it in Japanese?

日本語で何て言う？ にほんごでなんていうPlay 日本語で何て言いますかPlay

Point at something or say the English word, then ask this to get a native speaker to give you the Japanese.

casualPlay

sore tte nihongo de nante iu?

How do you say that in Japanese?

それって日本語で何て言う？

politePlay

sore tte nihongo de nante iimasu ka?

How do you say that in Japanese?

それって日本語で何て言いますか？

Say eigo instead of nihongo to ask for the English.

Learn alongside: -tte nani?, dou iu imi?Learn first: nante?