Japanese Grammar In Its Natural Habitat
Wild Nihongo!
どう / いかが / どうして / どうやって

どう / いかが / どうして / どうやって

どう / いかが / どうして / どうやって Japanese Grammar Lesson

Grammar Type: Interrogative Adverb

Essential Meaning: How / In what way

Construction: Adverb

Notes:

  • どう is an adverb that corresponds to the English interrogative word “How?” or to the interrogative phrase “In what way?” The polite version of どう is いかが. In informal speech, ですか may be omitted after どう / いかが.
    • E.g. お母かあさんはどうですか。[How’s your mother?]
    • E.g. お母かあさんはどう。[How’s your mother?]
  • どう / いかが can also be used to offer or suggest something (e.g. “How about X?“, “Would you like X?“). In such cases, どう / いかが are used to inquire about the hearer’s state of mind rather than the state of what is being offered or suggested.
    • E.g. コーヒーはどうですか。[How do you feel about the coffee? / Would you like some coffee?] In this case, どう is used to inquire about the hearer’s state of mind regarding the coffee rather than the specifics surrounding the coffee itself. It’s ambiguous whether the speaker is offering the hearer some coffee or is referring to some pre-existing coffee.
  • どう is also used to ask about the way of doing something. いかが is generally not used in this way.
    • E.g. この言葉ことばはどう読よみますか。[How do you read this word?]
  • The idiomatic expression どうして is used to inquire about manners, reasons, or causes. It can be interpreted as “How?“, “In what way?“, or “For what reason?” depending on the context (なぜ is an unambiguous way of asking “For what reason?“, but it is quite formal). The expression どうやって is similar to どうして but only applies to manners (i.e. “How?“, “By what means?“). どうして and どうやって are comprised of どう plus the + て-Form of する and やる, respectively.
    • E.g. どうして日本語にほんごを勉強べんきょうしているんですか。[How / Why do you study Japanese?] In this case, どうして may be referring to the reason / cause for studying Japanese (i.e. “Why?“) or to the manner of studying Japanese (i.e. “How?“).
    • E.g. この木きはどうして枯かれたんですか。[How / Why did this tree die?] In this case, どうして may be referring to the reason / cause for tree dying (i.e. “Why?“) or to the manner in which the tree died (i.e. “How?“).
    • E.g 彼かれはどうやってここへ来きたのですか。[By what means did he come here?] どうやって unambiguously refers to a means (i.e. “How?“).
    • E.g 彼かれはなぜここへ来きたのですか。[Why did he come here?] なぜ unambiguously refers to a reason (i.e. “Why?“).

Example Sentences:

新あたらしいアパートはどうですか。[How is your new apartment?]

土曜日どようびはどう。[How about Saturday?]

WILD Examples:

At 1:24, listen for this line: 空そらはこんなに青あおいのに、かぜはこんなに暖あたたかいのに、太陽たいようはとても明あかるいのに, どうしてこんなに眠ねむいの [Even though the sky is this blue, even though the wind is this warm, and even though the sun is so bright, how am I this sleepy?]
Listen to this line from 0:38: 教おしえてください、この世よに生いきとし生いける物ものの全すべての命いのちに限かぎりがあるのならば、海うみは死しにますか、山やまは死しにますか、風かぜはどうですか、空そらもそうですか、教おしえてください [Please tell me, if it’s the case that the lives of all of all God’s creatures have a limit, will the sea die? Will the mountains die? How about the wind? Is the same true of the sky?, Please tell me]

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