# お国はどちらですか。



## ハチ子

Well... a stupid question of mine!

I was reviewving some things and among these things there was the difference between どれ/どちら
we use どちら when we have to choose between two possibilities.
But it is not the same situation in this very common sentence, right? ^__^ 
but ... why お国はどちらですか。 and not お国はどれですか。 ?

thank you so much in advance, to the one who will answer me!! <3


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## SoLaTiDoberman

ハチ子 said:


> Well... a stupid question of mine!
> 
> I was reviewing some things and among these things there was the difference between どれ/どちら
> we use どちら when we have to choose among two or more possibilities.
> But it is not the same situation in this very common sentence, right? ^__^
> but ... why お国はどちらですか。 and not お国は*どこ*ですか。 ?
> 
> thank you so much in advance, to the one who will answer me!! <3



どちら is not "which" but "what."  It is used to choose one from two or more than two possibilities.

お国はどれですか is unnatural because of the poor collocation.
However, you can say 出身はどこですか.

The difference between お国はどちらですか and お国はどこですか is the politeness of the sentence.
I personally feel どちら is a polite expression in Japanese now, although there is no such description in the dictionaries.
I personally feel どこ is less polite than どちら.

These days, not a few people might think どちらのほう is more polite than どちら.  お国はどちらのほうですか？
It is true from a certain point of view.　But a linguist might say that the usage is wrong and redundant.

どっち is less polite than どちら.
どっち is used more frequently when choosing from two possibilities like "which."


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## Isperia

I agree with SoLaTiDoberman.

 However, "お国" sounds old-fashioned (to me). I think over-fifty women may use the word.
"出身はどちらですか" or simply "どちからから" sounds not old-fashioned.


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## gengo

You could also just ask "(ご)出身は？"

You could use どれ in certain situations, but not with お国は.  For example, you could say "あの人の出身国はどれですか" if you were trying to remember which European country he was from, and had been talking about certain countries.  This would translate to "which country is he from?," and not "what country is he from?"


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## Cowrie

Hi ハチ子 (cute name!), 

どちら is not only used for choosing one from two possibilities, as already mentioned above by SoLaTiDoberman. 

One possible English translation of おくにはどちらですか is “Where are you from?”, and it is often the case a Japanese person (most likely a very well matured one, as Isperia mentions above) asks another Japanese person this question, meaning “Where (in Japan) are you from?” – so answers to this question include “Hokkaido”, “Okinawa”, etc. 

To me, お国はどれですか sounds like you are looking at a map and pointing at several countries on the map while asking. 

On a side note, どちらさまですか is an example どちら is used to ask “who”. 

P.S. I’m glad somehow you know the expression お国はどちらですか. It may sound a bit classical, but is a beautiful Japanese phrase in my view.


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## 810senior

Hello, ハチ子.

I agree on the above opinions.
お国はどちらですか is fine but sounds old-fashioned to me.
We don't usually say お国はどれですか when we ask someone where he or she came from.


---
You may say
どちらから？ lit._ from where [you are]?_
ご出身は？ lit._ [where] is your hometown?_
どちらからいらっしゃいましたか？ lit. _where have you come from?_ [more polite than the above]
どの国の出身ですか？ lit. _which hometown is yours? 
_and so on.


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## Isperia

If you REALLY want to use "どこ", "どこ出身？" is OK.

But it is VERY INFORMAL (almost rude).
I think you shouldn't use it unless you're drunken.


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## SoLaTiDoberman

I think I should add something. I agree with #6.

お国はどちらですか？ is not asking which *country* (of the world) you are from.
It was asking which *province or prefecture* (of Japan) you were from, before Meiji era.
For example,
紀伊の国 (the province of Kii) is now called Wakayama prefecture.
越後の国 (the province of Echigo) is now called Nigata prefecture.
Therefore, お国はどちらですか is an obsolete expression used in Edo era or before.　
You may encounter it when you watch 時代劇.


If you're asking the country of the world for the international communication, お国はどちらですか may sound awkward.

どちらの国のご出身ですか？
御出身はどちらですか？
あなたの御出身国をお教え願えますか？　sounds more natural.


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## Cowrie

SoLaTiDoberman said:


> I personally feel どちら is a polite expression in Japanese now, although there is no such description in the dictionaries.
> I personally feel どこ is less polite than どちら.


I feel the same way, and I’ve found a related previous thread and a webpage that says どちら is a polite form of どれ, どこ, and どっち. 



SoLaTiDoberman said:


> お国はどちらですか？ is not asking which *country* (of the world) you are from.


It seems some Japanese (as a second language) textbooks (from ALC, for example) teach this as a phrase to ask a country of origin in the world, but we, except Hachiko, never know where Hachiko found this phrase. 

To me, this phrase is too high in register and too delicate (in other words, could be ambiguous) to handle. It is obviously dying and already dead to some people.


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## ハチ子

Isperia said:


> "お国" sounds old-fashioned (to me). I think over-fifty women may use the word.



.... oh my! I did not know this! : D





Cowrie said:


> Hi ハチ子 (cute name!)



*_____* awww thank you so much <3
a little ""tribute"" to ハチ公 ^__^ in italy, too, lived a dog that was faithful like him...! his name was Fido.. and he waited for about 15 years



> P.S. I’m glad somehow you know the expression お国はどちらですか. It may sound a bit classical, but is a beautiful Japanese phrase in my view.



I'll tell you a secret..: despite knowing it is so old-fashioned... I like it, too ^_^




Isperia said:


> If you REALLY want to use "どこ", "どこ出身？" is OK.
> 
> But it is VERY INFORMAL (almost rude).
> I think you shouldn't use it unless you're drunken.



ahahaahHAHAHAHAHAHAH X°°D I won't!! thank you very much!! ^^



SoLaTiDoberman said:


> I think I should add something. I agree with #6.
> 
> 
> どちらの国のご出身ですか？
> 御出身はどちらですか？
> あなたの御出身国をお教え願えますか？　sounds more natural.



thank you so much ^_^



Cowrie said:


> It seems some Japanese (as a second language) textbooks (from ALC, for example) teach this as a phrase to ask a country of origin in the world, but we, except Hachiko, never know where Hachiko found this phrase.



Ta-daaaan, I took a photo ^__^
http://s21.postimg.org/89v8htbvb/okuniiii.jpg

ehm... I'm sorry for the bad quality^^;


I found the sentence (and took the photo) in one of my Japanese books... and the author is an old Japanese teacher of mine : D
We can see in that photo that the answer wa "Japan" and then there were, in the exercise, other nations do answer with...! 
But thanks to you, now I see I prefer to use the other correct way to ask for the nationality ^__^

thank you so much for your help... not only for this time, but even for other questions I asked in the past and that almost surely I will ask in the future :3
you are so kind to help others here!
have a nice day


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