どうしたの, どうした, どうしたんですか, どうしましたか？


> どうしたの  
>  どうした  
>  どうしたんですか  
>  どうしましたか

They all mean what happened. But what's the difference in between? Feel free
to add examples. Thanks!




The only difference is in the formality levels. All four phrases mean "What
happened?" or "What's wrong?", depending on the context.

To put the four phrases in the order of formality, we will have:

> 1) どうしましたか
>
> 2) どうしたんですか
>
> 3) どうしたの
>
> 4) どうした

Is 1) **_very_** formal then? No, it is not because it uses 「する」, which is not
very formal at all. More formal than 1) would include:

・どう（or いかが）なさいましたか

・どう（or いかが）されましたか

「いかが」 is more formal than 「どう」. In my experience, very few Japanese-learners
can use freely and correctly the formal versions of the wh-words. Since 「いかが」
is formal, it is **_not_** to be used with 3) and 4) above. You will sound
more than weird if you do, I promise.

If you are an adult speaker talking to another (a stranger) on the street, you
would probably use any of the phrases listed above (including the two I added)
**_except for_** 「どうしたの」 and 「どうした」.

You can use 「どうしたの」 and 「どうした」 when talking to (close) friends, your own
students, kids (either your own or strangers'), etc. The slight difference
between those two is the fact that the former sounds a little softer than the
latter.

Finally, absolutely none of the phrases we discussed above are gender-
specific. There seems to exist much misunderstanding among J-learners
regarding the sentence-enders such as 「の」, 「わ」, etc.




The only difference is in the formality levels. All four phrases mean "What
happened?" or "What's wrong?", depending on the context.

To put the four phrases in the order of formality, we will have:

> 1) どうしましたか
>
> 2) どうしたんですか
>
> 3) どうしたの
>
> 4) どうした

Is 1) **_very_** formal then? No, it is not because it uses 「する」, which is not
very formal at all. More formal than 1) would include:

・どう（or いかが）なさいましたか

・どう（or いかが）されましたか

「いかが」 is more formal than 「どう」. In my experience, very few Japanese-learners
can use freely and correctly the formal versions of the wh-words. Since 「いかが」
is formal, it is **_not_** to be used with 3) and 4) above. You will sound
more than weird if you do, I promise.

If you are an adult speaker talking to another (a stranger) on the street, you
would probably use any of the phrases listed above (including the two I added)
**_except for_** 「どうしたの」 and 「どうした」.

You can use 「どうしたの」 and 「どうした」 when talking to (close) friends, your own
students, kids (either your own or strangers'), etc. The slight difference
between those two is the fact that the former sounds a little softer than the
latter.

Finally, absolutely none of the phrases we discussed above are gender-
specific. There seems to exist much misunderstanding among J-learners
regarding the sentence-enders such as 「の」, 「わ」, etc.

