誰

Who

Level 1Sounds Like dare

誰（だれ） is the basic Japanese word for 'who'. It is used to ask about the identity of a person and functions like a noun, meaning it is followed by particles like が, を, or の.

How It Works

1. Basic Usage
誰（だれ） is an interrogative pronoun used to identify people. It is placed in the sentence where the person's name or a noun referring to a person would normally go.

2. Particle Attachment
Since 誰（だれ） acts as a noun, it must be followed by particles to show its role in the sentence:

  • 誰が（だれが）: Used when 'who' is the subject performing an action. Note that が is used instead of は because the question word itself cannot be the topic.
  • 誰を（だれを）: Used when 'who' is the direct object of a verb (e.g., "Who did you meet?").
  • 誰の（だれの）: Used to ask 'whose'. It uses the possessive particle の.
  • 誰に（だれに）: Used to ask 'to whom' or 'from whom'.
  • 誰と（だれと）: Used to ask 'with whom'.

3. Politeness and Nuance
While 誰（だれ） is grammatically correct in polite sentences (ending in です or ます), it can sometimes sound a bit direct. If you are speaking to a teacher, a boss, or a customer, use どなた instead to show proper respect. In even more formal business contexts or when answering the door, the ultra-polite どちら様（どちらさま） is preferred.

Examples (5)

  1. あの人は誰ですか。

    Who is that person?

    Word by Word: That person (topic) who is it?

    A standard polite question using the copula です and the question marker か.

  2. 誰が来ましたか。

    Who came?

    Word by Word: Who (subject) came?

    When 誰 is the subject of the sentence, it must be followed by the subject marker が, never the topic marker は.

  3. これは誰の鞄ですか。

    Whose bag is this?

    Word by Word: This (topic) whose bag is it?

    Using the particle の after 誰 creates the possessive 'whose'.

  4. 誰と行きますか。

    Who are you going with?

    Word by Word: Who with go?

    The particle と is used here to mean 'with'.

  5. 誰に会いましたか。

    Who did you meet?

    Word by Word: Who (target) met?

    The particle に marks the person who is the target of the meeting.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the topic marker は after 誰.

    誰は来ましたか。
    誰が来ましたか。

    In Japanese, interrogative words (who, what, where, etc.) represent unknown information and therefore cannot be the 'topic' of the sentence. You must use the subject marker が instead.

  • Using 誰 when speaking to a customer or superior.

    お客様は誰ですか。
    お客様はどなたですか。

    Using 誰 for a customer (お客様) sounds blunt or even rude. In formal or business contexts, always use the honorific version どなた.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

誰Level 1Who

Learn This First

To understand 'dare' (who), you should first be familiar with the basic concept of Japanese question words and how to mark a sentence as a question using the particle 'ka'.

Words in This Pattern