Could either どこに男の人がいますか and 男の人はどこですか be used?


Another quick one here. Just wondering if both of the above are appropriate
ways to voice the question 'Where is the man' (as well as contextually similar
questions). Thank you!!




Though your point gets across with both structures, one comes off more
unnatural than the other.

> どこに男の人がいますか？

By inserting the 男の方｛かた｝ (see below for why I don't use 人) into the middle of
どこにいますか, you break up the flow of the sentence, and risk loosing what you are
originally trying to ask. It's better to put 男の方 in front of どこにいますか.

Additionally, 男の人 is also unnatural sounding to me. Usually, when you're
talking about a man, you say 男の方｛かた｝. [方](https://jisho.org/word/%E6%96%B9) is
more polite and respectful. Additionally, 人 doesn't specify one person. You
could be asking if there are multiple men there. I would say the difference is
the difference between saying 'man person/people' (男の人) and 'man/gentleman'
(男の方).

The usage of が in this sentence seems to be okay though.

> 男の人はどこですか？

This is much more natural sounding, especially if you replace 人 with 方.




Though your point gets across with both structures, one comes off more
unnatural than the other.

> どこに男の人がいますか？

By inserting the 男の方｛かた｝ (see below for why I don't use 人) into the middle of
どこにいますか, you break up the flow of the sentence, and risk loosing what you are
originally trying to ask. It's better to put 男の方 in front of どこにいますか.

Additionally, 男の人 is also unnatural sounding to me. Usually, when you're
talking about a man, you say 男の方｛かた｝. [方](https://jisho.org/word/%E6%96%B9) is
more polite and respectful. Additionally, 人 doesn't specify one person. You
could be asking if there are multiple men there. I would say the difference is
the difference between saying 'man person/people' (男の人) and 'man/gentleman'
(男の方).

The usage of が in this sentence seems to be okay though.

> 男の人はどこですか？

This is much more natural sounding, especially if you replace 人 with 方.

