どこ

どこ is an interrogative word meaning "where." It is used to ask about locations and places. Like other question words in Japanese, どこ is used with the particle か in polite speech to form questions, though か can be dropped in casual speech (with rising intonation).

Asking about a location

どこ is most commonly combined with particles such as に, で, and へ to ask about different aspects of location.

• どこに – asking where something is or where someone goes to

  といれトイレはどこにありますか。

  Where is the restroom?

• どこで – asking where an action takes place

  どこでひるごはん昼ご飯をたべます食べますか。

  Where do you eat lunch?

• どこへ – asking where someone is heading

  どこへいきます行きますか。

  Where are you going?

どこ as a topic or subject

どこ can also be used directly with は or が when asking which place has a certain quality.

どこの + Noun

When used with の, どこ can ask about the origin or affiliation of something or someone.

Casual usage

In casual conversation, the particle か is often dropped and replaced with rising intonation.

Related words

• どこか – somewhere / anywhere
  どこかにいきたい行きたい。

  I want to go somewhere.
• どこも – everywhere / nowhere (with negative)
  どこもひらいていない開いていない。

  Nowhere is open.
• どこでも – anywhere (at all)
  どこでもいいよ。

  Anywhere is fine.