どうしてわかるの？
The English phrase "how do you know?" is translated into Japanese as どうしてわかるの？
In Japanese, the concept of "knowing" a fact is often expressed using the verb わかる, which means "to understand" or "to be known/clear". Additionally, if you want to ask "how" or "in what way" something is done, you can use どのように.
What does it mean word for word?
The verb in this phrase is わかる, which means "to understand" or "to be known/clear". This is the standard way to express knowing a fact in Japanese.
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
You can adjust the politeness of the phrase by choosing different words. For a polite version suitable for strangers or superiors, use どうしてわかるんですか？ by adding んですか to the end. For a more casual or colloquial tone, you can replace どうして with なんで, resulting in なんでわかるの？
Did you know?
- Japanese has a concept called 'reading the air' called 空気を読む, which refers to knowing something without being told. If someone knows an answer through this intuition, asking どうしてわかるの？ might be seen as questioning their social intuition.
- The verb わかる is an intransitive verb in Japanese. This means the 'fact' is the subject that 'understands itself' to the person, rather than the person 'knowing' the fact as an object.
- If you use the casual なんでわかるの？, the word なんで is actually a contraction of なにで, which literally means 'by what' or 'with what'.
Examples in context
- あの情報、どうやって知ってるの?How do you know that information?
- どうしてわかるの？doushite wakaru no?How do you know?
- 彼が来るなんて、どうしてわかるの？kare ga kuru nante, doushite wakaru no?How do you know that he is coming?
Example conversation
Kenta and Yui are talking about a secret.
- 結衣 Yui健太くん、もう知ってるんでしょ？Kenta-kun, mou shitteru desho?Kenta, you already know, right?
- 健太 Kentaえっ、どうしてわかるの？E, doushite wakaru no?What, how do you know?
- 結衣 Yuiだって、みんな話してたよ。Datte, minna hanashiteta yo.Because everyone was talking about it.
- 健太 Kentaそうだったのか。Sou datta no ka.I see.
