What Does This Mean "Doko Desu Ka"?

'Doku desu ka' is a Japanese phrase used in every day conversation, especially by tourists. It literally translates to 'where?' as 'doku' means 'where' and 'desu ka' is a phrase added to the end of Japanese sentences to turn the sentence into a question - there is no use of a question mark.

A few examples of its use are...

'Hoteru wa doku desu ka' - 'where is the hotel?'
'Eki wa doku desu ka' - 'where is the station?'
'Toire wa doku desu ka' - 'where is the toilet?'
'Annaijo wa dokue desu ka' - 'where is the tourist information point?'

You will notice the inclusion of 'wa' - this is a topic marker. It points out what the topic of the sentence is - the object. It joins the topic to the rest of the sentence; in this case, a question about its location.

Some other useful phrases are...

'Igirisu kara kimashita' - 'I come from England'.
'Watashi wa John Smith desu' - 'my name is John Smith'.
'Tasukete kudasai' - 'Help me, please'.

Japanese uses fewer vowels and consonants than English, and it is often difficult to find translations as they use a different character set to the Latinate one used in most European languages. The easiest way to learn to speak Japanese is with a text book with phrases written phonetically.

It's basically "where". For example, [add object's name here] doko desu ka? --- This is equivalent to: Where [add object's name here]?

Doko itself means where. Desu ka is a Japanese phrase that comes at the end of a statement to turn it into a question.

Compare "Toire wa doko desu ka?" and "Where is the toilet?".

Hope this helps.

It's a polite way of saying, 'Where?"