Phrase guide

what's the matter

phrase · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

phrase

Meaning 1

What is wrong? What's the problem?

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: idiomatic

Examples

  • Why are you crying? What's the matter?
  • What's the matter with you? Why would you do a thing like that?

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

phrase

Meaning 2

What's happening? What's the news?

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: dated

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

87 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: مَاذَا حَدَثَ؟ (māḏā ḥadaṯa?) — what's wrong?
  • Arabic: مَا الْخَطْب؟ (mā l-ḵaṭb?) — what's wrong?
  • Arabic: مَا الْأَمْر؟ (mā l-ʔamr?) — what's wrong?
  • Arabic: في إيه؟ (fī ʔē?) — what's wrong?
  • Arabic: إيش فيه؟ (ʔēš fī?) — what's wrong?
  • Arabic: إيش صار؟ (ʔēš ṣār?) — what's wrong?
  • Armenian: ի՞նչ է պատահել: (inčʻ ē patahel:) — what's wrong?
  • Armenian: ի՞նչ պատահեց: (inčʻ patahecʻ:) — what's wrong?
  • Azerbaijani: nə oldu? — what's wrong?
  • Belarusian: у чым спра́ва? (u čym správa?) — what's wrong?
  • Belarusian: што зда́рылася? (što zdárylasja?) — what's wrong?
  • Bulgarian: какво́ и́ма? (kakvó íma?) — what's wrong?
  • Bulgarian: какво́ се слу́чи? (kakvó se slúči?) — what's wrong?
  • Cebuano: unsay problema? — what's wrong?
  • Chinese: 啥物代誌? /啥物代志? (sián-mi̍h tāi-chì? / sián-mih tāi-chì? / siám-mih tāi-chì? / sán-mi̍h tāi-chì? / siám-mi̍h tāi-chì? / sián-mí tāi-chì? / sián-meh tāi-chì? / sahn-mi̍h tāi-chì?) — what's wrong?
  • Chinese: 什物代誌? /什物代志? (sím-mi̍h tāi-chì? / sím-mi tāi-chì? / sím-mih tāi-chì? / sīm-mi̍h tāi-chì? / sám-mi̍h tāi-chì?) — what's wrong?
  • Chinese: 何物代誌? /何物代志? (há-mi̍h tāi-chì?) — what's wrong?
  • Chinese: 啥代? (sián-tāi?) — what's wrong?
  • Chinese Mandarin: 什麼事? /什么事? (shénme shì?) — what's wrong?
  • Chinese Mandarin: 怎麼了? /怎么了? (zěnme le?) — what's wrong?
  • Czech: co se děje? — what's wrong?
  • Czech: co je? — what's wrong?
  • Czech: co se stalo? — what's wrong?
  • Danish: hvad sker der — what's wrong?
  • Dutch: wat is er aan de hand? — what's wrong?
  • Finnish: mikä hätänä — what's wrong?
  • Finnish: mistä on kysymys — what's wrong?
  • French: qu'est-ce qui se passe — what's wrong?
  • French: qu'est-ce qu'il y a — what's wrong?
  • Galician: que pasa? — what's wrong?
  • Georgian: რაშია საქმე? (rašia sakme?) — what's wrong?
  • German: was ist los? — what's wrong?
  • German: was is passiert? — what's wrong?
  • German: was ist geschehen? — what's wrong?
  • Greek: τι τρέχει; (ti tréchei?) — what's wrong?
  • Ancient Greek: τί τὸ κακόν; (tí tò kakón?) — what's wrong?
  • Hindi: क्या बात है? (kyā bāt hai?) — what's wrong?
  • Hungarian: mi a baj? — what's wrong?
  • Hungarian: mi történt? — what's wrong?
  • Icelandic: hvað er að? — what's wrong?
  • Icelandic: hvað amar að? — what's wrong?
  • Indonesian: apa masalahnya? — what's wrong?
  • Italian: che cosa c'è? — what's wrong?
  • Italian: che succede? — what's wrong?
  • Japanese: どうしたんですか (dō shita n desu ka?) — what's wrong?
  • Japanese: どうしましたか (dō shimashita ka?) — what's wrong?
  • Japanese: どうしたの? (dō shita no?) — what's wrong?
  • Korean: 무슨 일입니까? (museun ir-imnikka?) — what's wrong?
  • Korean: 무슨 일이에요? (museun ir-ieyo?) — what's wrong?
  • Korean: 무슨 일이야? (museun ir-iya?) — what's wrong?
  • Latin: quid tibi est? — what's wrong?
  • Latin: quid est? — what's wrong?
  • Macedonian: што е? (što e?) — what's wrong?
  • Macedonian: што се случи? (što se sluči?) — what's wrong?
  • Malay: apa masalahnya? — what's wrong?
  • Norwegian Bokmål: hva er i veien? — what's wrong?
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: kva er i vegen? — what's wrong?
  • Ojibwe: aaniin dina? — what's wrong?
  • Iranian Persian: چی شُدِه؟ (či šode?) — what's wrong?
  • Polish: co się stało? — what's wrong?
  • Polish: w czym problem? — what's wrong?
  • Portuguese: o que é que se passa? — what's wrong?
  • Portuguese: o que é que foi? — what's wrong?
  • Portuguese: o que é que tem? — what's wrong?
  • Portuguese: qual é o problema? — what's wrong?
  • Russian: в чём де́ло? (v čom délo?) — what's wrong?
  • Russian: что случи́лось? (što slučílosʹ?) — what's wrong?
  • Russian: что тако́е? (što takóje?) — what's wrong?
  • Serbo-Croatian: što je bilo? — what's wrong?
  • Serbo-Croatian: što se dogodilo? — what's wrong?
  • Slovak: čo sa stalo? — what's wrong?
  • Slovak: čo sa deje? — what's wrong?
  • Slovene: kaj se je zgodilo? — what's wrong?
  • Slovene: kaj je? — what's wrong?
  • Spanish: ¿qué te pasa? — what's wrong?
  • Spanish: ¿qué le pasa a usted? — what's wrong?
  • Tagalog: ano'ng problema? — what's wrong?
  • Thai: เกิดอะไรขึ้น (gə̀ət à-rai kʉ̂n) — what's wrong?
  • Turkish: sorun nedir? — what's wrong?
  • Turkish: ne oldu? — what's wrong?
  • Ukrainian: в чо́му спра́ва? (v čómu správa?) — what's wrong?
  • Ukrainian: що тра́пилося? (ščo trápylosja?) — what's wrong?
  • Urdu: کْیا بات ہَے؟ (kyā bāt hai?) — what's wrong?
  • Vietnamese: có chuyện gì vậy? — what's wrong?
  • Welsh: beth sy'n bod? — what's wrong?
  • Welsh: beth sydd o'i le? — what's wrong?
  • Yagara: menango — what's wrong?