Grammar Info

N5 Lesson 6: 1/13

(だれ)Who

Structure

だれ

Demonstrative

Details

  • Part of Speech

    Noun

  • Word Type

    Pronoun

  • Register

    Standard

About 誰

(だれ) is a substitute noun that is used in Japanese to describe unknown people. Due to Japanese particles behaving in very specific ways, (だれ) will be translated differently depending on the particle that follows it.

(だれ)(だれ)(だれ)(だれ) (who), (だれ) (whose), (だれ) (somebody), (だれ) (any/everybody).

Caution

Depending on the style of polite speech, there are several different words that will be used to indicate an unknown person. どなた is used in honorific language, while どちらさま is used in polite speech.

Examples

--:--

    (だれ)です

    Who is it?

    (だれ)がいます

    Who is there?

    (だれ)します

    Who will do it?

    これ(だれ)パソコンです

    Whose computer is this?

    (かれ)(だれ)でしょう

    I wonder who he is.

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      誰 – Grammar Discussion

      Most Recent Replies (6 in total)

      • Pushindawood

        Pushindawood

        Who

        Structure

        • Demonstrative

        View on Bunpro

        [どなた is the formal version of だれ]

      • Pinebubbles2

        Pinebubbles2

        How often is the kanji for だれ used? I have not come across it and according to Jisho.org, it is a JLPT N5 word but it is only taught at level 43 of Wanikani as a kanji?

      • mrnoone

        mrnoone

        Hey and welcome on the community forums

        Both ways of writing are used, though I would say that using 誰 is a bit more common.

        I hope it helps,
        Cheers

      • darzington

        darzington

        Hello! In the question:

        友達: 君は___?
        私: あなたの友達でしょう!

        Why is 誰か incorrect? I know that 誰か means
        “someone”, but couldn’t it also work as “who?” with か to indicate that it’s a question?
        Thanks!

      • junetheway

        junetheway

        Hello, everyone!
        I have a simple question.

        お前は誰で行く?

        This phrase is in the examples, but I think 誰と is more natural than 誰で.
        What do you think?
        Do people use 誰で frequently?

      • Fuga

        Fuga

        Hey @junetheway !

        Both 誰で and 誰と would work here! However, changing で to と would change the nuance of the sentence completely.

        This sentence uses this で, which is used to highlight something/someone that is required to perform an action. This means that this で gives this sentence the nuance of ‘Who are you choosing’ instead of ‘going together’. A sentence like this may be heard when playing a video game that requires each players to pick a character.

        Hope this clears it up!

      • junetheway

        junetheway

        Oh, I see!!
        The video game example really made me understand the difference!!
        Thank you so much for the explanation!!

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