LEARN + JAPANESE / 9 of 186 JLPT N5
How Is It? どう
どう means “how,” asking for an opinion, a method, or a state, not a number or a name the way ど-question words like どこ or どの do.
How's the new job?
What do you think about this project?
Hint · 힌트
どう思いますか is the standard way to ask someone’s opinion, literally “how do you think.” English needs a different verb, “think,” Japanese just reuses どう plus 思う, the same “think” verb from Give and Take.
How do you read this kanji?
What should be done about this cost problem?
Hint · 힌트
どうすればいい (literally “if [I] do how, is [it] good”) is the fixed way to ask “what should I do about this.” It shows up constantly as a complete phrase, worth learning as one chunk rather than building it fresh every time.
Kimura, how about dessert?
In Real Life
Dropped down to casual speech, どう alone becomes a quick way to offer something, closer to “how about it?” than a real question about quality. どうですか offers the same thing more politely, and いかがですか is the version reserved for someone senior, offering a guest tea or a boss a drink.
Vocabulary
| Japanese | English |
|---|---|
| job, work | |
| government | |
| problem | |
| honorific speech | |
| department head, manager | |
| to receive, to eat (humble) | |
| dessert | |
| impression, thoughts | |
| condition, how something's going | |
| appearance, state of things | |
| mood, feeling | |
| recently | |
| reputation | |
| plan, proposal | |
| to decide | |
| to choose | |
| to think, consider | |
| advice | |
| to feel | |
| impression |
YOUR PROGRESS
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