誰【だれ】

だれ asks "who". It sits where the answer would sit and takes the particle the answer would take. The kanji is 誰; the word is written in kana just as often.

The answer puts a person where だれ was: あのひとあの人はたなか田中さんです, へや部屋にせんせい先生がいます, やまだ山田さんのほん本です.

The particle after だれ

だれが asks who does something, だれの whose something is, だれと who with, だれに who to. With the verb あいます会います (to meet), the person met takes に.

だれが, not だれは

As the subject of a question, だれ takes が, not は. There are two correct ways to ask who the teacher is, and neither puts は on だれ.

• × だれは先生ですか → だれが先生ですか

Usage notes

These go beyond the plain question.

どなた

どなた is the polite word for "who". Use it for the person you are talking to, and for anyone you should be polite about.

だれか and だれも

だれか is "someone" or "anyone". だれも with a negative is "no one".

One sound changes the question: だれがいますか asks who is there, and だれかいますか asks whether anyone is.

Other question words

なん何 (what), どこ (where), いつ (when), どう (how), いくら (how much) and いくつ (how many) work the same way: they sit where the answer will sit.