だれか
dareka
The English phrase 'anyone' is translated into Japanese as だれか (dareka).
Meaning: anybody (pron)
What does it mean word for word?
The word is composed of だれ (who) and the particle か (indicating uncertainty), literally meaning 'a certain who'.
Which one should you use?
There is a nuance difference between the available forms: だれか is used to mean 'someone/anyone' in the sense of an unspecified person, whereas だれでも is used when you mean 'anyone at all' or 'any person regardless of who they are'.
How does it change in a sentence?
While だれか means 'anyone' in an affirmative sense, だれも is used to mean 'nobody' in negative sentences.
How do you pronounce it?
dareka
Did you know?
- If you are looking for a person in a crowd and say だれか! (Someone!), it functions as an urgent cry for help, similar to 'Help!' in English.
- The particle か used in だれか is a versatile tool that turns any question word into an indefinite pronoun, such as turning 'what' into 'something'.
- In formal written Japanese, the word だれ is often written with the kanji 誰, but in casual texts and manga, it is almost always written in hiragana as だれ.
Examples in context
- どなたかお手伝いできる人はいますかIs there anyone who can help me?
- どなたでも歓迎ですAnyone is welcome.
- だれか助けてSomeone, please help!
- だれでも歓迎だよAnyone is welcome!
- だれか来ましたか？Dareka kimashita ka?Did anyone come?
- だれか助けて！Dareka tasukete!Someone help me!
- だれか知っていますか？Dareka shitte imasu ka?Does anyone know?
Example conversation
Misaki and Ren are in an empty classroom.
- 美咲 Misakiここにはだれかいますか。koko ni wa dareka imasu ka.Is anyone here?
- 蓮 Renいいえ、誰もいませんよ。iie, daremo imasen yo.No, there is no one here.
- 美咲 Misakiあ、だれかが来ました。a, dareka ga kimashita.Oh, someone has come.
- 蓮 Ren本当だ。先生ですね。hontou da. sensei desu ne.You're right. It's the teacher.
