Doko

Doko is a Japanese interrogative word that means "where." It is a fundamental element of question formation and is used to ask about location, origin, or destination, depending on the verb and particles that accompany it.

In everyday writing and speech, doko is written in hiragana as どこ and is romanized as doko. There is no common kanji form for the word. It appears in various question constructions, from casual to polite: どこですか (Where is it?), どこへ行きますか (Where are you going?), and どこにありますか (Where is X located?).

Usage and examples: どこですか can stand alone as a question about location. これはどこですか。Where is this? どこへ行きますか。Where are you going? どこにありますか。Where is that building located? どこから来ましたか。Where did you come from? どこで作りましたか。Where was this made? These forms show how doko combines with particles like へ, に, and から to specify movement, existence, or origin.

Usage notes: どこ is widely used across styles, from casual to formal. In polite or formal contexts, the phrase is often extended with ですか (e.g., どこですか) or replaced by more polite alternatives when asking about a location in sensitive situations. In some contexts, どちら can be used as a more polite or formal alternative to ask about location or choice, though it carries nuance beyond simply “where.”