どなた

ど

な

た

Common wordJLPTN5Freq.FrequencyTop 10,000

Meanings

1

Polite, honorific pronoun for 'who'. Used when asking about or referring to someone respectfully. More formal than だれ.

です

か

。

Who is that person over there?

どなたかお手伝てつだいいただけませんか。

Could someone please help me?

どなたですかpolite way to ask 'Who is it?' or 'Who are you?'
失しつ礼れいですが、どなたですか。
Excuse me, but who are you?

どちらN5
どちら politely asks 'which one/direction' and can stand in for a person in formal contexts, while どなた is used specifically and directly to ask 'who'.

誰だれplainN5
だれ is the plain, everyday word for 'who', while どなた is its polite, honorific counterpart used to address or refer to someone respectfully.

どなたか
何方 (どなた) is the honorific question word meaning 'who', while どなたか adds か to mean 'someone (unspecified)'.

どなたUsage100%
It is usually written in kana. The kanji spelling 何方 is rare and may be confused with other readings.
何方どなたUsage<1%
Kanji spelling is uncommon and can be read as どちら or いずかた; learners should use the kana form.

Derived from the interrogative prefix ど (which) and 方 (かた, person), with sound change from どかた to どなた. The kanji spelling 何方 is ateji.