80002
When should I use
[どちら](https://ejje.weblio.jp/content/%E3%81%A9%E3%81%A1%E3%82%89) and when
should I use
[どちらの](https://ejje.weblio.jp/content/%E3%81%A9%E3%81%A1%E3%82%89%E3%81%AE)
for asking a which-question?

My intuitive understanding is that どちらの is used when one wants to ask "which
[noun] ..." (e. g. どちらの色が好きですか) but I'm not sure why the の particle is used
here.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-08-05T21:38:02.093
79991
2020-08-09T16:35:47.317
2020-08-09T16:35:47.317
39405
39405
question
word-choice pronouns
どちら vs どちらの for "which"
This question is all but same with the following one except the word itself.

  * [どのｖｓどれ- can I use them interchangeably?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/44575/7810)

の is a case particle which lets a noun modify another noun. Unlike English
where you can directly attach a noun to another ( _summer vacation_ , _Disney
movie_ ), Japanese always needs の between them. Only personal pronouns retain
the rigid distinction in English, so you can simply know which to use by
replacing it with a grammatically equivalent personal pronouns.

  * **どちらの** 色が好きですか  
_Which_ (↔ _my, your, their, whose_ ) _color do you like?_

  * **どちら** が好きですか  
_Which_ (↔ _me, you, them, who_ ) _do you like?_

  * cf. **どちらの** が好きですか  
_[Of] which_ (↔ _mine, yours, theirs, whose_ ) _do you like?_

The same applies to all question words, pronouns, and nouns. Beware that
Japanese has many common noun suffixes in use, which translated to a full word
in English, but is only an attachment to a free-standing noun.

> **どちら** 用ですか (用 = "—'s purpose")  
>  _For which purpose / whose usage?_
>
> **どちら** 行きですか (行き = "bound for —")  
>  _Where is (it) going?_
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-08-06T09:07:36.377
80002
2020-08-06T09:13:12.867
2020-08-06T09:13:12.867
7810
7810
79991
answer