どうして
どうして
hepburn doushite
why, how come
Part of speech · adverb
Pattern visualization
no decomposition available
Examples
- どうして泣いていますか。Why are you crying?
- どうして日本語を勉強していますか。Why are you studying Japanese?
Collocations
どうして~か (why ~)~から (because, response)~ので (because, soft)なぜ (naze, formal "why")どうしてですか (Why is that?)
Mnemonic
どうして doushite — "why". The default in conversation. Formal/written alternative: なぜ naze. Answer uses ~から (casual reason) or ~ので (polite reason). The bookish なぜなら nazenara = "because" introduces a written explanation.
Quick check
In an interview: "Why did you choose this company?" — polite form?