Question
Someone rang my doorbell but I can’t see who is at the door as I do not have a door viewer. How do I say “who is it” in Japanese?
Answer by Professional Japanese Teacher
1. どなたですか。
Donata desu ka
Who is it? (more polite)
2. 誰(だれ)ですか。
Dare desu ka
Who is it?
The word for “who” in Japanese is 誰(だれ) dare. Since someone is at your door, we usually use the polite version どなた donata to show respect to the other person.
You can combine this word with desu ka to turn it into a question. If you are just wondering to yourself who is at the door, you can simply say “誰(だれ) Dare?” with a raising intonation.
