who

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: The kun reading is だれ. It has 15 strokes and relates to asking about a person or referring to an unspecified person.
• Basic usage: 誰 is read だれ, and 誰か is read だれか.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• 誰 and 誰か
  • 誰 means who. It is an interrogative pronoun read だれ used to ask which person.
  • 玄関にいるのは誰ですか。 means “Who is the person at the entrance?”
  • 誰か means someone. It is an indefinite pronoun read だれか referring to an unspecified person.
  • 玄関で誰かが名前を呼んでいる。 means “Someone is calling a name at the front door.”