How to Say “Really?” in Japanese

How do you say “Really?” in Japanese?

Today’s phrase is :

Really?

本当?

 hontou*

*We often pronounce “hontou” like “honto”.

If you want to speak politely, you can say :

本当ですか?

 hontou desuka

Pronunciation

“マジ maji” is slang for “本当”.

If you are asked “本当?”, you can then answer like this :

本当だよ。

 hontou dayo

Or simply :

うん。

 un

“本当だよ” means “Really.”, “うん” means “Yeah.”.

The polite ways to say “本当だよ” and “うん” are :

本当です。

 hontou desu

はい。

 hai


(casual)

本当?

本当だよ。
うん。

(polite)

本当ですか?

本当です。
はい。