How do you say "What did you do?" in Japanese?

"What did you do?" in Japanese is "していましたか。". This phrase is commonly used in Japan.

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How to Say ‘What did you do?’ in Japanese

Q: What does "していましたか。" mean in English?

"していましたか。" means "What did you do?" in English. Usage tip: [していましたか] asks about an ongoing or habitual action in the past — often "were you doing?" or "used to do?" Compare [しましたか] for a single completed action.

していましたか。

shi te i mashi ta ka

[shee teh ee mah-shee tah kah]

💬 Usage Tip: [していましたか] asks about an ongoing or habitual action in the past — often "were you doing?" or "used to do?" Compare [しましたか] for a single completed action.

Phrase Breakdown

し

shi

[shee]

Stem of する, meaning do.

Example

どんな仕事をしていましたか。

What kind of work did you do?

て

[teh]

and; -te form

Te-form ending used in verb combinations and continuous forms.

Example

どんな仕事をしていましたか。

What kind of work did you do?

い

[ee]

be; exist

Part of the helper verb in the past progressive/past habitual form.

Example

どんな仕事をしていましたか。

What kind of work did you do?

まし

mashi

[mah-shee]

polite past marker part

Part of ました, the polite past ending.

Example

どんな仕事をしていましたか。

What kind of work did you do?

た

[tah]

past tense marker

Marks the action as past in a polite form.

Example

どんな仕事をしていましたか。

What kind of work did you do?

か

[kah]

question marker

Used at the end of a sentence to ask a question.

Example

どんな仕事をしていましたか。

What kind of work did you do?

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