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])^[1]^[2]
IPA^(key): [do̞no̞]

Adnominal

どの • (dono)

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)

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)
Object	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)
Determiner	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)
Kind	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)
Place	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)
Direction / Human	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.

References

^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
^ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN

[DJR-1] Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[NHK-2] NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN

[1]

[2]