どれ

Japanese

Alternative spelling
何れ

Etymology

/idure//idore//dore/

Shift from いずれ (izure).[1]

Compare development of 何処 (izuko → doko, where).

Pronunciation

Pronoun

どれ • (dore

  1. indeterminate demonstrative pronoun:
    1. which... (of three or more choices)
    2. which way...; where...
      Synonym: どこ (doko)
  2. indeterminate personal pronoun:
    1. which... (three or more persons)
    2. (by) who...
      Synonym: (dare)

Derived terms

  • ()() (doredore, reduplication)
  • ()れか (dore ka)
  • ()(だけ) (doredake)
  • ()(ほど) (dore hodo)
  • ()れも (dore mo)

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 (korera no) それら (sorera no) あれら (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 () そう () ああ (ā)** どう ()
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 () (ko), () (so), () (a), and () (do) can be used for determiners, but they are almost always spelled in hiragana.

Interjection

どれ • (dore

  1. a filled pause in speech:
    1. well, ...
    2. let me see, ...; let's see, ...

Derived terms

  • ()() (doredore, reduplication)

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN