誰（だれ、dare）
- who

The Japanese word 誰 (だれ) means "who" or "whom" in English. It is an interrogative pronoun used to ask about a person or people. It's used to inquire about someone's identity.

⚫︎ あの人は誰ですか。 Translation: Who is that person? ⚫︎ 誰がこの本を読みましたか。 Translation: Who read this book? ⚫︎ あなたのお兄さんは誰ですか。 Translation: Who is your older brother?

⚫︎ 誰 is used when you don't know the identity of a person. ⚫︎ It is placed at the beginning of a question when inquiring about a person. ⚫︎ You can use it in both formal and informal situations, but the level of politeness in your question might change based on the situation and the other words used in the sentence.

⚫︎ The word is typically written with the kanji 誰, but sometimes, you may see it written in hiragana as だれ. ⚫︎ There are no variations in okurigana.

⚫︎ どなた (donata): This is a more polite and formal way of saying "who." ⚫︎ どちら (dochira): This can sometimes be used to mean "which person," but it's more common to use it for "which direction" or "which place."

There is no direct antonym for 誰. However, the opposite of asking "who" would be answering the question, which would involve providing a name or a description of the person.

誰がパーティーに来ますか？ ・Translation: Who is coming to the party? ・Explanation: This sentence directly asks about the identity of the people attending a party.

あなたは誰に電話しましたか？ ・Translation: Who did you call? ・Explanation: This sentence asks about the person the listener contacted by phone.

The etymology of 誰 is not definitively known, but it is believed to have originated from a combination of the demonstrative pronoun だ (da - that/that one) and the word れ (re - a general term for person or individual), though this explanation is debated.