日本人のかたですか vs 日本のかたですか


I originally received a post from an online chat which stated 「日本人のかたですか？」 I
assumed this post was correct and questioned the meaning of the word かた in
this instance. Would 「日本人のかたですか？」 be considered redundant? Would 「日本のかたですか？」
be the correct rewrite of the sentence with かた meaning person?




> “Nihon no kata desuka”  
>  “Nihonjin no kata desuka”  
>  “Nihon no hito desuka”  
>  “Nihonjin desuka”

All of them are used.

There’s no difference in meaning, but “kata” sounds polite, “Nihonjin desuka”
can be rude. “Nihonjin no kata” has two words that means “person”, but it’s
grammatically correct.

Because there’s “desuka”(敬語), we wouldn’t say “Nihonjin desuka”. It doesn’t
suit “desuka”.




> “Nihon no kata desuka”  
>  “Nihonjin no kata desuka”  
>  “Nihon no hito desuka”  
>  “Nihonjin desuka”

All of them are used.

There’s no difference in meaning, but “kata” sounds polite, “Nihonjin desuka”
can be rude. “Nihonjin no kata” has two words that means “person”, but it’s
grammatically correct.

Because there’s “desuka”(敬語), we wouldn’t say “Nihonjin desuka”. It doesn’t
suit “desuka”.

