たらどう
Meanings
- Why don't you...?
- What if you did...?
About this pattern
Explanation
たらどう expresses a suggestion or proposal in a light, advice-giving way. It asks someone to consider taking a certain action or trying a possibility. It’s commonly used when offering options or seeking input, and it can sound informal or casual depending on the tone. Use with verbs in the past tense plain form (食べたらどう？), with i-adjectives in the かった form (難しかったらどう？), and with na-adjectives/nouns using だったらどう (静かだったらどう？/あなただったらどう？). Generally, you can add ですか/です to be more polite.
Learn in context
Example sentences
How about studying a little more?
What if you try asking the teacher?
If you’re going with him, how about me going too?
What if this book is difficult?
How about a quiet place?
Keep studying
More N4 patterns
Or something; Any... (with question words); No matter (who)
View detailseasy to (do); likely to (happen); easy to be affected by
View detailsDifficult to; Hard to; Not easy to do something
View detailsGradually; Little by little; Step by step
View detailsmore and more; rapidly; increasing quickly; progressively
View detailsWe/They/You all (plural forms); These/Those (plural demonstratives); Plural suffix for certain pronouns and demonstratives
View details