sensei ha watasi no hyouzyou wo mite, 「daizyoubu?」 to iimasita.

The teacher looked at my expression and said, “Are you okay?”

Breakdown of sensei ha watasi no hyouzyou wo mite, 「daizyoubu?」 to iimasita.

• は: topic particle
• 私わたし: I
• を: direct object particle
• 先せん生せい: teacher
• の: possessive case particle
• 大丈夫だいじょうぶ: okay
• と: quote particle
• 言いう: to say
• 〜て: connective form
• 見みる: to look
• 表情ひょうじょう: facial expression

Questions & Answers about sensei ha watasi no hyouzyou wo mite, 「daizyoubu?」 to iimasita.

Why is は used after 先生 instead of が?

は marks 先生 as the topic (what the sentence is “about”): As for the teacher…
が would more strongly emphasize that the teacher (and not someone else) did it, often used when introducing new information or contrasting who did the action. In a neutral narrative like this, 先生は is very common.

What does 私の表情 literally mean, and why use の here?

私の表情 means my facial expression.
の links a noun modifier to another noun, similar to ’s in English:

• 私 (I / me) + の
  • 表情 (facial expression)

What’s the role of を in 表情を見て?

を marks the direct object of the verb 見る (to see / look at).
So 表情を見て = looking at (my) expression / seeing my expression.

Why is 見て used instead of 見る?

見て is the て-form of 見る. Here it connects actions in sequence:

• (The teacher) looked at my expression, and then said…

It’s similar to English “seeing…, (they) said…” or “after looking…, (they) said…” depending on context.

Does 見て always mean “and then,” or can it mean “because”?

The て-form can express several relationships, commonly:

• sequence: looked and said
• cause/reason: seeing my expression (so / because of that), the teacher said…
• background circumstance: while looking at my expression…

In this sentence, sequence/background is the most natural interpretation.

What does と do in …と言いました?

と marks the content of what was said (a quotative marker).
So 大丈夫？と + 言いました means (they) said: “Are you okay?”

Without と, you generally can’t attach quoted speech naturally to 言う.

Why are Japanese quotation marks 「 」 used, and do we need the question mark ？?

「 」 are standard Japanese quotation marks for direct quotes.
The ？ is optional in Japanese writing—many native texts omit it—but it’s common in modern writing and especially in learner materials. The sentence is still fine without it: 大丈夫？ / 大丈夫? / 大丈夫 (in context).

Is 大丈夫？ casual? Shouldn’t the teacher say 大丈夫ですか?

大丈夫？ is relatively casual and very common in speech, even from a teacher, depending on:

• closeness
• urgency/concern
• the teacher’s speaking style

More polite variants include:

• 大丈夫ですか。
• 大丈夫ですか？

All are possible; the sentence you have just portrays a more direct, spoken tone.

Why is it 言いました (past tense)?

言いました is the past polite form of 言う (to say). It indicates this happened already (a completed event in the story).
If it were happening right now, you might see 言います (present/future), but narratives commonly use past.

Could this be indirect speech instead of a direct quote?

As written with 「 」 + と, it’s a direct quote.
For indirect speech, Japanese often still uses と but without quoting punctuation, e.g.:

• 先生は私の表情を見て、大丈夫かと聞きました。 (The teacher asked whether I was okay.)

Or with a different structure:

• 先生は私に大丈夫かどうか聞きました。

Why is 私 not marked with は or が in this sentence?

Because 私 isn’t the main topic/subject of the sentence’s main verb 言いました. The teacher is.
Here, 私 appears inside the noun phrase 私の表情 (my expression), so it naturally takes の rather than は/が.

Is the word order fixed? Could parts be moved around?

Japanese word order is flexible, but particles keep roles clear. Common alternatives include:

• 先生は「大丈夫？」と言いました。私の表情を見て。 (split for style/emphasis)
• 私の表情を見て、先生は「大丈夫？」と言いました。 (foregrounding my expression)

Both keep the same core meaning; the difference is emphasis and flow.