GrammarJLPT N5
→ what kind of
What Kind of / What Sort of
JLPT N5Fixed phraseNeutral
どういう is a fixed interrogative phrase meaning "what kind of" or "what sort of," used to ask about the nature, type, or character of something. It is composed of どう (how/what) and いう (to say/to call), literally carrying the sense of "said in what way" or "described as what." It functions as a pre-noun modifier, always appearing directly before a noun, much like どんな. While どんな is slightly more casual and どのような is more formal, どういう sits comfortably in neutral to slightly formal territory and is extremely common in everyday conversation. It is almost always written in kana alone. Learners often confuse どういう with どんな, but the two are largely interchangeable in most contexts, with どういう sometimes carrying a slightly more analytical or definitional nuance — asking not just "what kind" but "what would you call" or "what is meant by."
Examples
Example #1
田中さんはどういう人ですか。
Here どういう modifies the noun 人 (person) to ask about Tanaka-san's character or personality. The speaker wants to know what sort of person Tanaka is — whether they are kind, strict, funny, etc. This is one of the most common and natural uses of どういう.What kind of person is Tanaka-san?
Structures
- Before a noun
- どういう + Noun
Common mistakes
The most common mistake is confusing どういう with どう alone. While どう means "how" and modifies verbs or stands alone as a question, どういう always modifies a noun and asks "what kind of." Saying どう人 instead of どういう人 is incorrect. Another frequent error is using どういう in very formal writing where どのような would be more appropriate. Learners also sometimes add の between どういう and the noun (どういうの人), which is wrong — どういう connects directly to the noun without any particle. Finally, some learners wonder whether to write it as どう言う with kanji; while grammatically possible, the kana-only spelling どういう is standard and strongly preferred in this usage.
Related
どんなどのような何のどういったどの