by Tomoyuki Higuchi
How do you say “What are you talking about?” in Japanese?
Today’s phrase is :
What are you talking about?
何のこと？
nannokoto
If you want to ask politely, you can say :
何のことですか？
nannokoto desuka
- what ＝ 何 nani
- you are talking ＝ あなたは話している anatawa hanashiteiru
- about … ＝ … のこと … no koto
The literal translation of “What are you talking about?” is “あなたは何のこと話しているの？ anatawa nannokoto hanashiteiruno”, but you can simply say “何のこと？” which sounds more natural.
何のこと
What are you talking about?
