どの

See also: との

Japanese

Alternative spelling
何の

Etymology 1

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) どの [dóꜜnò] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [do̞no̞]

Adnominal

どの • (dono) 

1. which .. ? (interrogative demonstrative); what .. ? (one out of the available choices)

   どの車(くるま)がいいか？

   Dono kuruma ga ii ka?

   Which car do you like?

Usage notes

• The hiragana spelling (どの) is preferred to the kanji spelling (何の), which is rarely used.

Related terms

• この (kono): this
• その (sono): that (nearby)
• あの (ano): that (far off)
• どこ (doko): where
• どちら (dochira): which (of two things)
• どれ (dore): which (of other than two things)

See also

Japanese demonstratives

	ko- “this” (close to speaker)	so- “that” (close to listener)	a- “that over there” (far from both)	do- “which” (indeterminate, question)
Object	これ (kore)	それ (sore)	あれ (are)	どれ (dore)
	これら (korera)	それら (sorera)	あれら (arera)	—
Determiner	この (kono)	その (sono)	あの (ano)	どの (dono)
	これらの (korera no)	それらの (sorera no)	あれらの (arera no)	—
Kind	こんな (konna)	そんな (sonna)	あんな (anna)	どんな (donna)
	こういう (kō iu)	そういう (sō iu)	ああいう (ā iu)	どういう (dō iu)
Place	ここ (koko)	そこ (soko)	あそこ (asoko)*	どこ (doko)
	こっから (kokkara)	そっから (sokkara)	—	どっから (dokkara)
Direction / Human	こちら (kochira)	そちら (sochira)	あちら (achira)	どちら (dochira)
	こなた (konata)	そなた (sonata)	あなた (anata)	どなた (donata)
Direction	こっち (kotchi)	そっち (sotchi)	あっち (atchi)	どっち (dotchi)
Human	こいつ (koitsu)†	そいつ (soitsu)†	あいつ (aitsu)†	どいつ (doitsu)†
Manner	こう (kō)	そう (sō)	ああ (ā)**	どう (dō)
Degree	これくらい (kore kurai)	それくらい (sore kurai)	あれくらい (are kurai)	どれくらい (dore kurai)
	これだけ (kore dake)	それだけ (sore dake)	あれだけ (are dake)	どれだけ (dore dake)
	これほど (kore hodo)	それほど (sore hodo)	あれほど (are hodo)	どれほど (dore hodo)
* irregular ** regular (long vowel) † potentially rude or derogatory

The kanji 此(こ) (ko), 其(そ) (so), 彼(あ) (a), and 何(ど) (do) can be used for determiners, but they are almost always spelled in hiragana.

Etymology 2

For pronunciation and definitions of どの – see the following entry.

【殿】S [suffix] Mr., Ms., a more formal title than さん (-san) but not so respectful as 様(さま) (-sama)

(This term, どの (dono), is the hiragana spelling of the above term.) For a list of all kanji read as どの, see Category:Japanese kanji read as どの.)