どうして学校を休みましたか。
- Why did you miss school?

どうして学校を休みましたか。 meaning: Why did you take a day off from school?

⚫︎ The sentence どうして学校を休みましたか utilizes a common Japanese sentence structure. It begins with a question word followed by the rest of the sentence. ⚫︎ The question word is どうして, meaning "why" or "for what reason". This is placed at the beginning to indicate that it's a question seeking a reason or cause. ⚫︎ Japanese sentences can often omit the subject, especially when it's clear from the context. In this case, the subject "you" (あなた) is implied. ⚫︎ The sentence structure follows a subject-object-verb pattern in its underlying meaning, although the word order is often more flexible than in English.

⚫︎ The particle を (wo) marks the direct object of the verb. ⚫︎ In this sentence, 学校 (gakkou - school) is the direct object of the verb 休みました (yasumimashita - took a day off). ⚫︎ The particle を (wo) indicates what the action of the verb is being done to.

⚫︎ The sentence ends with ました (mashita), which is the polite past tense form of the verb. ⚫︎ This indicates that the action of taking a day off happened in the past. ⚫︎ The base form of the verb is 休みます (yasumimasu - to take a day off/to be absent). ⚫︎ To make the verb past tense in polite form (masu-form), you change ます (masu) to ました (mashita).

⚫︎ どうして (doushite) is a fixed expression, functioning as a question word meaning "why". ⚫︎ It's commonly used to inquire about the reason for something. ⚫︎ It is always placed at the beginning of the sentence to show that it is a question.

⚫︎ The verb 休みます (yasumimasu) is the base form and it means "to take a day off" or "to be absent". ⚫︎ When discussing absence, it often refers to being absent from school, work, or other commitments. ⚫︎ In this sentence, the polite past tense form 休みました (yasumimashita) is used.