How do you say “What are you doing in Japanese”?
I think it is “nani yatenda”. you are close 😀
yateru=is doing, yatenda is the question form.
There are many way to say “what are you doing?” in Japanese.
“nani yatenda”. 「何やってんだ」is very casual and might be boys words.
“nani ѕнι𝓉erunda”.「何してるんだ」is the same.
“nani ѕнι𝓉eruno”. 「何してるの」sounds softer than above two.
Source(s): I am Japanese learning English
The textbook formal version of language is rarely what is spoken or what is on tv shows. News and newspapers use more formal language. You may notice this in English as well. Plus, when people are talking casually, they may use slang, nicknames, contractions, and generally alter the language. This is easy for conversationalists and natives to understand but if you are just learning a few words from a book then you won’t get it. I think this is true for all languages.
For Japanese, “nani” is “what”. The who/what/where type words are at the beginning of the sentence, like in English.
At the very end of a sentence is where the formality exists. The ending makes it formal, casual, polite, rude, etc. That is also where you put the question mark. In Japanese, there’s a letter used to indicate the question. Usually it is “ka” but more casually it can be “no” and in this case it is “da”.
Also, when speaking Japanese, especially in a casual way, people tend to throw in a “n” after the verb. I think this combination is what you are hearing. It is likely that the sentence was “nani yatten da” or “nani yatterun da”.
The present tense or dictionary form of the “do” word is “yaru” and the polite way to say “doing” is “yatte imasu”. Past tense is “yari maѕнι𝓉a” (formal) and “yatta” (informal). “yatteru” is the informal way of saying the present tense so the phrase translates as “wha’cha doing now?” I chose “wha’cha” instead of “what are you” because this way you can see how informal it is in English terms. You’ll never find wha’cha in the dictionary and this will confuse someone just learning English.
There’s another word for “do” as well so in some other times you might hear “suru” as in “nani ѕнι𝓉erun da” (being casual again). Variations could also be “ka” or “no” at the end of the sentence instead of “da”. “da” is a little more forceful, likely to be spoken by a male. “no” is a little more gentle, likely to be spoken by a female. “ka” is neutral.
Source(s): half-Japanese
nani ѕнι𝓉enda
nani ѕнι𝓉eru
何をやってるの？
Nani o ya~tsu teru no?
私はあなたのママをやっている
What are you doing in japanese
