なにとと゜して

I'm wondering what the difference between なに and と゜して is. I know なに means what but my dictionary also says と゜して means what. I havent learned と゜して from my lessons, yet, so I've only heard it in anime. From what I can tell と゜して refers to peoples feelings or if something is bothering them. And なに probably refers to items. I'm just wondering if this is true or if I'm completely wrong :p Thanks to anyone who helps :)

I think you made a miss spelling of "どうして(dousite) or どして(dosite)". ("ど" is double-dotted "と").
But your understanding is not bad.^_^
"なに" refers to things. "どうして" refers to feelings, contents, situations, and ways of things. "どうして" seems to be closer to "why" or "how".
For example,
"なにを 食べる？(nani wo taberu?)" : What do you eat?
"どうして 食べる？(dousite taberu?)" : Why (or How) do you eat it?

*More correctly, "どうして" is "どう(why or how)" + "して(conjugated "する(do)").
*plz check "どう:dou" or "どうする:dousuru" in your dictionary.

Cool,
That was the same problem I had before I read your post.
I didn't think doushite is a conjugated dousuru.
Thanks a lot...

The way I understood it when we learned it in class is like this:

"Nani" or "Nan" means "what". That's the literal translation. For example, "nan desu ka" means "what is that?".

"Dou" as a prefix for a verb is a question asking for an adverb or adjective, for example "anata wa dou desu ka?" (how are you?), asking for an adjective describing yourself (e.g. "genki", "daijoubu", although it's a very vague form of question; the question is more commonly "Ogenki desu ka"...a better example would be "anata no nihongo no kurasu wa dou desu ka?", "how is your Japanese class?")

"Donna" is asking specifically for an adjective to describe a specific item, sort of like the english "What kind of...", something like "Sore wa donna hon desu ka?" (what kind of book is that?), which would ask for something like "omoshiroi hon desu" (interesting book) or "muzukashii hon desu" (difficult book)

"Donna-ni" is asking for an adjectivial modifier, like "hiragana wa donna-ni kantan desu ka?" ("how easy is Hiragana?"), which would ask for "totemo kantan desu" (very easy) or "amari kantan dewa arimasen" (not very easy)

@Kitune: As I understood it, the title says "nani to doushite", or "nani and doushite", not a typo...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ertai87

@Kitune: As I understood it, the title says "nani to doushite", or "nani and doushite", not a typo...

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Yeah, thats what I meant. I forgot the う in 'dou shite', though.

Thanks, Kitune and Ertai :D You posts helped alot.