どういうことか (dou iu koto ka) Meaning Japanese Grammar - What Does It Mean?
Anna Baffa Volpe
Get in touch with me7 min reading time
Anna Baffa Volpe
7 min reading time
The expression どういうことか (dou iu koto ka) means What do you mean by that?, What does it mean?.
It is used to ask for clarification and elucidation of what is being said and also to express astonishment, surprise or disappointment depending on the situation.
In this post we learn more about the meaning of どういうことか, how it is formed and when どういうことか is used through real example sentences.
How to form どういうことか
This expression is formed
- by the interrogative どう
dōhow?, what? of the Kosoado series, the Japanese demonstratives - by the verb
to say言う - by the noun こと meaning
thing,event,matter; its kanji is 事 - by the interrogative particle か
We can also find the forms:
- どういうことですか polite form with the
copulaexpressed: です. - どういうことなのか informal and colloquial
どういうこと?
⇨ what do you mean?
⇨ what does it mean?
Today I am giving as examples various titles of Japanese publications on different topics and all containing the expression どういうことか that we are developing in this post.
「仕事が出来る」とはどういうことか?
What does it mean to be 'good at your job'?
とは to express astonishment
These two particles combined create a very common form in Japanese and one use is in explanations and descriptions of something.
とは follows the noun or expression whose description is asked or reported
The structure as follows:
才能とは、自分を信じることだ。
Talent is believing in yourself.
１１時に寝るとは、少し早すぎませんか？
Isn't it a bit early to be going to bed at 11 o'clock?
We can find phrases that end simply with とは; these are situations of surprise, amazement, when something is not expected to happen.
まさか落とした財布が戻ってくるとは。
I never thought I'd get my lost wallet back.
4歳の子は漢字が書けるとは。
A 4-year-old child can write kanji...
The sentence is completed according to the situation:
- I was surprised to see a 4-year-old writing kanji
- I didn't think a 4-year-old could write kanji.
とは is often replaced by the less formal って
大人になるってどういうこと？
What does it mean to be an adult?
PHとは?
What is PH?
とは is ised in combination with どういうことか
人を信じるとはどういうことか。
What does it mean to trust people?
どういうことか to ask for clarification
This expression is used when we don't quite understand what our interlocutor is saying and ask for further information and explanation.
A Japanese definition of the form どういうことか: 物事の起こった原因が分からない際の表現
物事の起こった原因が分からない際の表現
Expression used when we don't know the cause of something that happened.
We don't know the causes and the reasons for the fact reported and ask the interlocutor for an explanation.
学ぶとはどういうことか。
What does it mean to learn?
どういうことか to express surprise
どういうことか is also used in situations where one expresses surprise at what is being said.
Astonishment and also dismay in the following dialogue:
A
彼女から突然もう会えないと言われて...
My girlfriend suddenly told me that we couldn't meet anymore...
B
もう会えないってどういうこと？
What do you mean you can't meet anymore!?
Other Japanese book titles:
合理的とはどういうことか。
What does 'rational' mean?
人を助けるとはどういうことか?
What does it mean to help people?
Synonyms of どういうことか
Some commonly used synonymous forms of どういうことか are:
- どういう訳か
- どういう理由か
⇨ what's the reason?
The generic noun こと thing, matter is replaced by 訳 wake and 理由 riyū meaning reason, motive, cause
どういうことかと言うと: What I mean is
Complete access to all the material published in the past and published new every week. Many more audio resources: listen to original audio sentences and dialogues with captions and explanations. Full dialogues to explain every grammar, word, or kanji in the details in a real Japanese context. All the material comes from original Japanese sources and websites, we do all the work to select the best material. We publish new articles, grammars, dialogues, audio, and many updates every week. By joining GokuGoku you will have complete access to all material published today and in the future.
Support the website
Our supporters have access to extra explanations, examples, audio, and more 🙏🏼
Support us to unlockExamples of どういうことか
「理解する」ってどういうこと?
What do you mean by 'understand'?
って as we have seen substitutes とは.
犬であるとはどういうことか。
What is it like to be a dog?
From a Health and Wellness blog about 感染症診断: diagnosis of infectious diseases
診断をつけるという行為はどういうことなのか。
What does it mean to make a diagnosis?
Similar grammar points in Japanese 📚