Who & Where: 誰, どなた, どちら, どいつ, & どこ
In this lesson, the words we will look at are 誰, どなた, どちら, and どいつ. After we learn about the words for “who,” we will go over the two words for “where,” どこ and どちら.
Who’s Who?
誰
The basic word for “who,” 誰, may be used in casual, plain, and polite speech. It is for all intended purposes, the generic word for asking “who” someone is.
1. それは誰がやったの？
Who did that?
2. これを誰に渡せばいいの？
Who should I pass this to?
3. 誰に聞けばいいでしょうか。
Who should I ask?
4. これって誰のものですか。
Whose is this?
5. 君、誰？
Who are you?
Sentence Note: This sentence would likely be spoken by a guy in an extremely informal, abrupt fashion, most likely to someone who he views to be inferior to himself.
6. 世界で一番美しいのは誰だい。
Who is the fairest of them all?
Sentence Note: The use of だい at the end of the sentence indicates a rather coarse, abrupt, masculine question. It is rather bombastic and isn’t used so much anymore, but you will hear it frequently used in anime, music, etc.
どなた
どなた is the respectful version of 誰. Its purpose is to ask who someone is. However, it is normally not used at someone directly. For instance, you might ask your boss about who someone is by using どなた, but you wouldn’t walk up to someone and say どなたですか. However, if you were to ask someone who happened to just appear to you and are perplexed as to who that person is, you could respond with Ex.7
7.（あなた、）どなた（ですか）？
Who are you?
8. お花を下さったのはどなたですか。
Who is it that gave the flowers?
9. 次の方は、どなたですか。
Who is it that’s next?
Sentence Note: In Ex. 9, the speaker is merely asking for whoever is next to point himself/herself out. It is almost undoubtedly the case that the speaker knows who the person next is, and it’s also likely that the case that the person next is physically near the speaker.
10. すみませんが、責任者の方はどなたですか。
Excuse me, but who is the person in charge?
11. どなたか、このお子さんをご存知の方はいらっしゃいませんか。
Anyone, is there someone who knows who this child is?
どちら
When used to mean “who,” どちら is almost always used asどちら様. This is used to ask not just who someone is, but also who they are affiliated with. This is because it comes from a kosoado which literally means “where?”
Say if you were to receive a phone call from someone you don’t know. The natural response in Japanese to this is どちら様ですか. Perhaps you’re at work and there is a visitor waiting to see your boss. As a secretary who is in a hurry to tell his/her boss who has come by, you may ask Ex. 12.
12. どちら様でいらっしゃいますか。
May I ask who you are?
As you can see, this variation is more respectful. At times, though, it’s not always appropriate to ask “who are you?” to a client or someone you should be giving the utmost respect/courtesy. In such a situation, you may wish to use something like in Ex. 13a or 13b.
13a. 失礼ですが、お名前を頂戴できますか。
Excuse me, but could I have your name?
13b. 失礼ですが、お名前を伺えますでしょうか。
Excuse me, but could I ask your name?
どちら様, nevertheless, plays an important role in “who” questions in respectful speech. This is because of how it is nuanced towards asking for affiliation and not just one’s personal name.
14. あちらのお方はどちら様でしょうか。
Who is that person over there (from)?
15. 恐れ入りますが、本日のご来店はどちら様のご紹介ですか。
Pardon me, but who was it that introduced you to come to our store today?
16. どちら様までご連絡差し上げればよろしいでしょうか。
Who should I get in contact with?
17.「すみません。電話中ですので折り返します。」「あ、わかった」「どちら様まで？念のために電話番号をお願いします。」
“I apologize, but I will need to call you back because I’m on the phone.” “Oh, ok.” “To whom am I speaking? Just in case, may I have your phone number?”
18. 「恐れ入りますが、お名前とご連絡先をお聞きしてもよろしいでしょうか。」
“Pardon me, but may I ask your name and contact information?”
どなた様
どなた様ですか is also a thing. As you can see from the examples below, it’s used as the respectful form of 誰 in very honorific yet indirect circumstances.
19. どなた様か存じませんが、先程ご親切に道案内をしていただいた方にお礼を申し上げたいのですが。
I don’t know who it was, but I would like to show my appreciation to the person I had kindly show me the way a moment ago.
20. どなた様にお送りいたしますか。
Who should I send it to?
21. どなた様をお訪ねしたらよろしいですか。
Who should I visit?
22. どなた様でもお申し込みいただけます。
Anyone can apply.
23. どなた様もご利用OK!
It’s OK for anyone to use!
Sentence Note: Ex. 23 is indicative of an advertisement.
In Humble Speech
When it’s necessary that you humbly ask who in one’s company someone wishes to speak to in a business situation, you may useどちらの者.
24. どちらの者にご用でしょうか。
Who do you have business with?
In reality, you might wish to ask the following question, but there are certainly situations in which asking whom one has business with is appropriate. In Ex. 24, you also implicitly ask about the department of the company the person you are speaking to has business with.
25. どのようなご用件でしょうか。
What sort of business do you have (with us)?
When asking someone who you need to call, you could just use 誰. どの者 may also be used, but some speakers find this to be stiff. Because this is a humble setting, there is no grammatical need to use anything more than 誰.
26.｛誰・どの者｝をお呼び致しましょうか。
Who shall I call for you?
Rude Language: どいつ
Although outdated outside of certain set expressions, another word for “who” is どいつ. If you think this sounds like ドイツ (Germany), you’d be right. Japanese people also love making puns with it because of this!
27. 噂の女はどいつだ。
Who’s the rumored woman?
28. どいつでもいいんじゃない！
Just anyone’s not alright!
29. どいつもこいつもドイツ人だ!
Every last one of them is a German!
Grammar Note: This word creates a kosoado series, as is indicated by こいつ.
Where
The basic word for “where” is どこ. Aside from just meaning “where,” it can also mean “what part?” or ask about to “what extent” something has gone. You can see how these nuances relate to each other in the examples below.
30. トイレはどこですか。
Where is the bathroom?
31. 三上さんはどこですか。
Where is Mr. Mikami?
32. どこに住んでるの？
Where do you live?
33. どこが悪いの？
What (part) is wrong about (that/it)?
34. どこも痛くありません。
It doesn’t hurt anywhere.
35. どこの職場でも人間関係がうまくいかない。
No matter the work place, my relations with people don’t go well.
36. どこまで進んでいるか教えてくれない？
Could you tell me how far you’ve progressed?
37. iPhoneのどこがいいですか。
What part of the iPhone is good?
どちら
As mentioned, どちら literally refers to “where.” This is seen in respectful language.
38. どちらへお泊りでしょうか。
Where will you be staying?
39. どちらへ行かれますか。
Where are you going?
40. どちらへおかけですか。
Where will you sit?
41. ご出身はどちらですか。
May I ask where you were born?
42. ご住所はどちらですか。
May I ask for your address?
43. エスカレーターはどちらですか。
Where is the escalator?
44. 制服ってどちらで買えるんですか。
Where can you buy uniforms?
45. 「王さんのお国はどちらですか。」「台湾です。」
“Mr. Wang, what is your country of origin?” “Taiwan.”
Reading Note: 王 is a Chinese surname. When read the Japanese way, people will read and refer to someone with this surname as オウ. If using a Mandarin rendition, people will refer to that person as ワン. If using the Cantonese rendition, people will refer to that person as ウォン.