N5 Topics
L7: Which? Where? And Which Again?
Complete the こそあど word set with ど words
Which? Where? And Which Again?
In this Topic, we're going to learn about the final piece of the こそあど puzzle. Specifically, words beginning with ど, which are used for identifying unknowns.
Grammar in this Topic
どれ
Which (of three or more)
どれ is from the same family of words as これ, それ, and あれ. These words are called こそあど言葉 in Japanese. Unlike the other 3, which all point to a specific thing, words starting with ど are designed for enquiring about something unknown. どれ can roughly be translated as 'which' in English, and is used for enquiring about a group (of 3 or more things).
From these examples, we can see that the particle が is often used with どれ, especially when preceding questions. However, when どれ follows a noun, は will be used.
When there are only two choices to select between, どちら + の, or どっち + の will be used instead of どれ. This is a habit that has become part of the language over time, and was not originally how these words were used.
どこ
Where
どこ is one of the forms of the どれ family of words used to enquire about unknown things. In this case it asks about a place. Just like どれ represents 'which', どこ represents 'which place', or simply 'where'.
Caution
どこ should not be confused with どっち, a similar word which is also sometimes translated as 'where'. どっち focuses more on the direction that one is/is going, where どこ focuses purely on 'which place'.
どの
Which (of three or more), What (kind)
どの is classified as a 'pre-noun adjectival' in Japanese. These are a special type of word that do not conjugate, which means that they will always appear in the same form. どの comes from the same family of words as どれ and どこ, and is used for asking about 'which' thing someone will choose.
In these examples, we can see that どの may be used to ask a question, or it may also be used in a similar way to 'whatever', or 'whichever' in English.
Caution
どの is only used when there are 3 or more possible choices, and どっち（の）・どちら（の） will be used when there are only 2 possible choices.
In the first example, the speaker is asking specifically about 2 options 'red or blue', so どっち will be used. However, in the second example, since the answer could be any color, どの will be used instead.
Details
Let's review how these words fit into the こそあど system, and also look at some other examples of こそあど words which we've not been introduced to properly yet.
Who? Which? Where?
As mentioned on the grammar point pages, the words どちら and どっち also exist. Equivalents also exist for こ, そ, and あ. Let's look at them all in turn to see what they mean and how they're used.
Both どれ and どちら (or どっち in more casual speech) can be used to mean 'which (one)', but どれ is used for 3 or more options, and どちら (or どっち) is used for a simple choice between two things.
Unlike どれ, どちら (and どっち) is a multitasker. It can be used to ask 'what direction', 'who', or even 'where' in some contexts.
ちら、ちら、ちら
This versatility works for the こ, そ, and あ equivalent words as well.
こちら, そちら, and あちら can represent direction, place, or people. This use of directional words to represent people in particular shows us how relationships between people have distance/direction (deixis) baked into them!
Off to the Doctor's
--:--
お母さん：「すみません。病院に行くバスはどれですか？」
おじさん：「どの病院に行くんですか？」
たくや：「最近ストレスが多いので田中病院に行くんです。」
おじさん：「そうなんですね。あそこのバス停に来る黄色いバスに乗って、『緑公園前』で降りてね。そこで乗り換えます。公園の近くにあるバス停から、田中病院に行くバスが出ていますよ。」
たくや：「ありがとうございます。」
おじさん：「お大事にね。」
お母さん：「どうしたんですか？お腹が痛いんですか？」
女の人：「そうなんです。昼に寿司屋に行って、寿司を食べてアレルギーが出たんです。」
お母さん：「大丈夫ですか？どちらの寿司屋に行ったんですか？」
女の人：「『寿司屋のブン』に行きました。」
お母さん：「そこは古い寿司屋だから危ないですよ〜。お大事に。」
女の人：「ありがとう。そちらは？」
お母さん：「息子が病院に行くので、一緒に来ました。あ、ここで降りますね。」
お母さん：「こちらが受付ですか？」
受付の人：「はい。予約はしていますか？」
お母さん：「田中先生で予約をしました。」
受付の人：「分かりました。予約をしている人はあちらの受付でお願いします。」
たくや：「ありがとうございます。」