あなたは？
anata wa?
In Japanese, 'what about you' is expressed as あなたは？ (anata wa?)
This phrase is used to redirect a question back to the person you are speaking with.
Which one should you use?
The informal version 君はどう？ can also be used to mean 'How about you?' or 'What about you?'
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
あなたは？ is considered polite or neutral. However, because using the word 'anata' can sometimes feel overly direct or formal in Japanese, speakers in natural conversation often omit it entirely or replace it with the listener's name. 君はどう？ is an informal alternative.
How does it change in a sentence?
The question mark or a rising intonation at the end of あなたは？ functions to indicate the question 'what about you?'
How do you pronounce it?
anata wa?
Did you know?
- The word 'anata' used in あなたは? is often used by wives to address their husbands, similar to how English speakers might use 'dear' or 'honey'.
- To be even more polite than あなたは？, a speaker might use 〇〇様はどうなさいますか？ to ask 'what about you'. This uses 'keigo' or honorific speech, which completely changes the verb and the noun.
- In some dialects, such as the Kansai region, you might hear あんたは？ instead of あなたは？ The shift from 'na' to 'nta' makes the phrase sound much more blunt or colloquial.
Examples in context
- 「ムスリムさん？」「そうよ。あなたは？」「私はクリスチャン」"Are you a Muslim?" "Yes, what about you?" "I'm a Christian."This sentence is useful for seeing how to redirect a question about one's religion using あなたは？Tatoeba #13028726 by small_snow, translation #13059567 by araneo
- 私は学生です。あなたは？Watashi wa gakusei desu. Anata wa?I am a student. What about you?
Example conversation
Yui and Kenta are talking about their hobbies.
- 結衣 Yui私は本を読むのが好きです。あなたは？Watashi wa hon o yomu no ga suki desu. Anata wa?I like reading books. What about you?
- 健太 Kenta僕は映画を見るのが好きです。Boku wa eiga o miru no ga suki desu.I like watching movies.
- 結衣 Yuiいいですね。最近何をみましたか？Ii desu ne. Saikin nani o mimashita ka?That's nice. What did you watch recently?
- 健太 Kentaアニメの映画をみました。Anime no eiga o mimashita.I watched an anime movie.
Sources
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
