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In English we'd ask: ''What is your date of birth ?''

Is this the same in Japanese or is the use of ''What'' allowed ?

> 貴方の生年月日は何ですか
>
> 貴方の生年月日は何時ですか

Which of these are correct ?

Can both be used ?

Is there another way of asking this question ?
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2020-03-31T12:12:01.957
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2020-03-31T14:57:41.603
2020-06-17T08:18:27.500
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phrases
When or What is your date of birth?
> Which of these are correct?

Technically, neither. 何 typically refers to a thing that you can hold, a
_specific time_ , or a definition that you are trying to understand. What you
are asking for is 'when' rather than 'what.'

In English, we do sometimes use 'what' in reference to time ('What time is
it', 'What day were you born", etc.), and this does pop up in Japanese, but
I'll get there later.

生年月日 is actually already pretty specific, translating to `date of birth`, but
there's something here that differs between the English and the Japanese. You
can say `what is your DOB` in English, but you cannot in Japanese. This is
because 生年月日 is already specific enough to satisfy the 'what' of the question.
As such you need to answer the 'when' of the question. Therefore in Japanese
you will need to say ' _when_ is your DOB.'

> あなたの生年月日は **いつ** ですか？

When you say '貴方の生年月日は何時ですか' you ask, `What time is your DOB?` This is a
little nonsensical in both English and Japanese.

This brings me to an earlier comment. 'What' can be used in relation to time,
if you are asking for specifics, like 'what time/day/month/year did x happen?'
In relation to birthdays, I would use 誕生日, as it's slightly less formal, and
if you're asking for what month someone's birthday is in, it's going to be a
less formal situation.

Example: お誕生日は _なん_ 月ですか？

Notice the use of なん, or what instead of いつ.

If you are going to ask for the specific time a person was born, I would say
something to the effect of `What time were you born on your birthday?`

> お誕生日に何時に生まれましたか？

If you need me to break this down further to help point out the differences
please leave a comment, and I'll do so.
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2020-03-31T14:52:26.153
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