なんていうの？ How do you say ‘How do you say’ in Japanese

So, How do you say how do you say in Japanese? The easy and polite way is to say:

○○は日本語にほんごで何なんと言いいますか？

Just replace the ○○ with whatever English word or phrase you want to know and you are all set!

There are other ways to ask how to translate your phrases from English to Japanese.

Inevitably when you learn Japanese you will be asking how to do so often. In order to make your Japanese the best it can be here are more ways to ask how to say stuff in Japanese.

How do you say … in Japanese?

How do you say…in Japanese

You can say ○○は日本語にほんごで何と言いますか？ Or you can say　○○は日本語で何て言いますか. Either is correct.

People can also just point at things and ask about them. In that situation you would say:

これは何なんですか　(What is this)?
これは日本語で何ですか　(What is this in Japanese)?

Could you Tell me how to Say…

There is a more polite way to ask how to say something. That would be:

これは日本語でなんて言いうのか教おしえてくれますか？
Could you tell me how to say this in Japanese?

What do you call … in Japanese

This is sort of the say thing as asking how to say something. It is less common than the previous phrases but still good to know:

これは日本語でなんと呼よばれるのですか？
What is this called in Japanese?

これは何なんと呼びますか？
What do you call this in Japanese?

Is this Correct…

You can also check with people if your Japanese is correct. If you think it is ok but are not sure if it sounds natural you can also ask that too.

Is this Correct…

Pretend that you want to ask how are you? You could ask with the following phrase:

How are youと言いたいのですが、「元気げんきですか」という表現ひょうげんは正ただしいですか？

You can also substitute 正しい with other words:

大丈夫だいじょうぶですか？ (OK)
合あっていますか？ (Does this fit)

Does this sound Natural?

So you may know how to say something. It may not always be the most natural-sounding expression though. In that case, to ask someone if it sounds natural you would say:

これは自然しぜんに聞きこえますか？

What do you say when…

Not everything has an exact translation from English to Japanese. So, to make to most of your conversations here are more phrases to ask how to say things.

What do you say when…

This is for when you have a specific situation in mind but don’t know the Japanese.

～という時ときは、何なんと言いうのですか？
What do you say when…

The beauty of this phrase is that you don’t need to even know the English word.

You will find this more and more when you get better at Japanese. You will want to say something but not be able to pull the English out of your head. This is actually good since it means you are starting to think in Japanese.

Is there any Expression for…

You can also ask for a specific expression to say something. For example common expressions or proverbs in English.

～という表現ひょうげんはありますか？
Is there any expression for…

Which is Correct…

Finally, if you are unsure of how to say something you can ask which one is correct, or which is better.

Which is Correct…

If you have two choices, you can ask someone which is right:

どちらが正ただしいですか？○○、それとも△△？
Which is right？ ○○ or △△？

Is there a better way to say

There are sometimes multiple ways to say things. Here is how you can ask if there are any better ways to say something:

○○と言いたいのですが、「△△」よりいい表現ひょうげんはありますか？
I want to say ○○ but is there a better expression than △△?

Resources

• How do you say – Weblio 
• How do you say – Hinative