Yesterday, during the A vs B lesson festival, did you notice that sometimes we used どっち, like this:

うどんとそばどっちが好き？
うどん　と　そば　どっち　が　すき？
Which do you like better, udon or soba?
Literally: "udon + と + soba + which + が + liking?"

But in one case, we used どれ, like this:

そばとうどんとラーメンの中でどれが一番好き？
そば　と　うどん　と　ラーメン　の　なか　で　どれ　が　いちばん　すき？
Which do you like best, soba, udon, or ramen?
Literally: "soba + と + udon + と + ramen + の + in / among + で + which + が + number-one + liking?"

Why-Oh-Why-Oh-Why?

Do you know?

Thinking Space:

Hmm...

Uhh...

Err....

Derp.

Time's up, yo.

Here's why:

↓　✪　✪　(?_?)　✪　✪　↓

どっち ( ="which" ), which is a contraction of どちら, is only used for 2 things.

But-but-but, どれ ( ="which" ) is for 3 or more things.

↑　✪　✪　(+_+)　✪　✪　↑

So there you are, wandering through life, when Morpheus shows up:

He says that he has two pills.

The red pill will make you instantly native-level in Japanese.

The blue pill will give you two extra hours of fatigue-free study time per day... for the rest of your life.

So...

Which do you choose?

Quick! Say that in Japanese.

Thinking Space:

Hmm...

Uhh...

Err....

Derp.

Hint!

"Choose" is actually going to use the verb for "do" in Japanese.

One last chance...

Thinking Space:

Hmm...

Uhh...

Err....

Derp.

Answer:

どっちにする？
Which one will you choose?
Literally: "which + に + do?"

While you're thinking it over, Morpheus drops another mind-bending knowledge bomb:

Specifically, he has THREE cupcakes.

Then he says you may have one.

But only 1.

Which will you choose?

In Japanese, that's...

Thinking Space:

Hmm...

Uhh...

Err....

Derp.

Answer:

どれにする？
Which one will you choose?
Literally: "which + に + do."

The chocolate one, please.

Thank you, Morpheus-sensei.

And that's our lesson today.

Wait, that's it

Yeah, yo.

But be warned: I still mix up どっち and どれ.

It's one of those mistakes I hear myself making all the time.

Because apparently I've hard-wired the word どっち into my brain, and どれ always gets left behind as a result.

Example Palace

Because of course.

Three or More Options
A:
どれにする？
Which one do you want?
Literally: "which + に + do?"
Note: Earlier, I translated this as "Which one will you choose," but it can also have the nice, casual nuance shown here.

B:
どれでもいいよ。
Any of them are fine.
Literally: "whichever / any one + good + よ."
Note: どれ, "which," plus でも, "but," becomes どれでも, "whichever; any one."

↥↥↥
I always mix up どれでも（いい）...

with どっちでも（いい）...

⇣⇣⇣

Two Options
A:
どっちにする？
Which one do you want?
Literally: "which + に + do?"

B:
どっちでもいいよ。
Either one is fine.
Literally: "whichever / either one + good + よ."
Note: どっち, "which," plus でも, "but," becomes どっちでも, "whichever; eitherone."

⇣　Level-Up Bonus!　⇣

どの is used almost the same way as どれ:

どの色がいい？
どの　いろ　が　いい？
Which color do you want?
Literally: "which + color + が + good?"
Note: Since it says どの, we know that there are 3 or more colors.

Did you catch the difference, though?

どれ is a noun meaning "which."
Kind of like when we say これ for "this."

But どの is an adjective meaning "which (one)."
Kind of like when we say この, "this," in: このケーキ, "this cake."

In other words, どの attaches to nouns, and in the example it attaches to the noun 色（いろ）, "color."

💀　↥　💀　↥　💀

どっちにしようかな。
Hmm... I wonder which one I should choose.
Literally: "which + に + let's do + かな."
Note: This is a good answer when someone asks you which (of two things) you want, but you haven't decided yet.

I briefly mentioned this earlier, but in very formal language, どっち becomes どちら.

Like this:

どちらになさいますか。
Which would you like?
Literally: "which + に + do?"
Note: なさいます is the honorific of します, which is the masu form of the verb する, "to do." You probably won't ever need to say it, but you'll hear it all the time at restaurants and stuff.

どちらでも大丈夫です。
どちら　でも　だいじょうぶ　です。
Either one is fine.
Literally: "whichever / either one + OK + is."

⇣　Level-Up Bonus!　⇣

Sometimes どちら can also be a very formal way of saying どこ, "where?"

You will probably hear it being combined with 方.

方, which (usually) means "direction; side," like we saw it yesterday, is pronounced ほう.

BUT! In a very formal use, 方 can mean "person," in which case it is pronounced かた.

So a very polite Japanese person might ask you...

どちらの方ですか？
どちら　の　　かた　です　か？
Where are you from?
Literally: "which + の + direction / person + is + か?"

💀　↥　💀　↥　💀

Anyways, good luck choosing which words to use...

Bonus Phrases

どちらの色がお好きですか？
どちら　の　いろ　が　おすき　です　か？
Which color do you like?

このケーキおいしい。
この　ケーキ　おいしい。
This cake is good.