何が問題なんですか？
nani ga mondai nan desu ka?
The Japanese phrase for "what is your problem?" is 何が問題なんですか？ (nani ga mondai nan desu ka?)
何が問題なんですか？ is a question used to ask what specific issue or difficulty someone is experiencing. While it can be used to inquire about a technical or situational issue, in many social contexts, this phrase can sound confrontational, similar to the English "What is your problem?" used when someone is acting strangely or rudely.
Which one should you use?
For a more casual way to say "What's the problem?", you can use the informal version 何が問題なの？ If you wish to ask if someone is having a problem in a helpful, polite way rather than a confrontational way, use 何かお困りですか？ to mean "Are you troubled by something?" or use 何かお悩みはありますか？ to ask "Do you have any worries or troubles?" Finally, if you want to informally ask "What happened?" or "What's wrong?", use どうしたの？
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
The version 何が問題なの？ is informal, replacing the polite desu ka with the casual nano? For helpful inquiries, use 何かお困りですか？ or the formal 何かお悩みはありますか？
How do you pronounce it?
nani ga mondai nan desu ka?
Did you know?
- In Japanese culture, directly asking 何が問題なんですか？ to a superior is often considered an act of aggression. To avoid this, speakers often use vague language to imply there is a problem without naming it.
- In Japanese, the word 問題 (mondai) is frequently used in educational settings to mean 'a question' or 'an exercise' on a test, rather than a social or personal 'problem'.
- The word 何が (nani ga) in this phrase uses the subject marker が, which places heavy emphasis on the 'what', making the question feel much more direct and potentially aggressive in Japanese than in English.
Examples in context
- 何が問題なんですか？Nani ga mondai nan desu ka?What is the problem?
- 具体的に、何が問題なんですか？Gutaiteki ni, nani ga mondai nan desu ka?Specifically, what is the problem?
- 結局、何が問題なんですか？Kekkyoku, nani ga mondai nan desu ka?In the end, what is the problem?
Example conversation
A coworker is asking a colleague about a technical error in a report.
- 美咲 Misakiエラーが出ていますが、何が問題なんですか？Eraa ga dete imasu ga, nani ga mondai nan desu ka?An error is appearing, what is the problem?
- 蓮 Renデータの入力形式が間違っているようです。Deeta no nyuuryoku keishiki ga machigatte iru you desu.It seems the data input format is incorrect.
- 美咲 Misakiなるほど、修正が必要ですね。Naruhodo, shuusei ga hitsuyou desu ne.I see, it needs to be fixed.
- 蓮 Renはい、すぐ直しておきます。Hai, sugu naoshite okimasu.Yes, I will fix it right away.
