Japanese Grammar In Its Natural Habitat
Wild Nihongo!
~たらどうですか

~たらどうですか

~たらどうですか Japanese Grammar Lesson

Grammar Type: Phrase

Essential Meaning: Why don’t you do X? / How about doing X?

Construction: 

  • Verb informal past + らどうですか
    • E.g. 話はなしたらどうですか [Why don’t you speak?]
    • E.g. 食たべたらどうですか [Why don’t you eat?]

Notes:

  • ~たらどうですか is an idiomatic phrase that expresses a light suggestion (i.e. “Why don’t you do X?“). It is derived from the conjunction ~たら.
  • ~たらどうですか can be made informal by simply shortening the phrase to ~たらどう. It can be made polite with ~たらどうでしょう(か), たらいかがですか, or たらいかがでしょう(か).
    • E.g. Casual: もっと日本にほんの本ほんを読よんだらどう。[Why don’t you read more Japanese books?]
    • E.g. Polite: もっと日本にほんの本ほんを読よんだらいかがでしょうか。[Why don’t you read more Japanese books?]
  • ほうがいい is a similar expression that expresses a strong suggestion (i.e. “You ought to do X.“). ほうがいい is used declaratively, whereas ~たらどうですか is used interrogatively.
    • E.g. もっと日本にほんの本ほんを読よんだほうがいい。[You ought to read more Japanese books.]

Example Sentences:

もっと日本にほんの本ほんを読よんだらどうですか。[Why don’t you read more Japanese books?]

サラダも食たべたらどうですか。[Why don’t you eat salad too?]

山村やまむら先生せんせいに聞きいたらどうですか。[Why don’t you ask Yamamura-sensei?]

WILD Examples:

Listen to this line from 1:18: 上空じょうくうはくらい模様もよう、雲くもを割わってみたらどう？ [The sky above has a dark pattern, Why don’t you try splitting the clouds?]
Listen to this line at 2:17: 新あたらしい愛あいをもっと詰つめ込こんでみたらどう [Why don’t you try squeezing some more new love into your life?]

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