Tell me more ×
Japanese Language & Usage Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for students, teachers, and linguists wanting to discuss the finer points of the Japanese language. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 4 down vote favorite
1

I am a bit confused about a sentence I came across in an anki deck:

誰もその話を知らない。

I know that that 誰 means "who" and も means "also", but the translation it gives me is:

"No one knows that story."

Someone please explain.

Thank you n_n

share|improve this question

2 Answers

up vote 4 down vote accepted

誰 by itself does not mean 'who'. Nor does も always mean 'also'. Words like 誰 are called indeterminates, and are more essential than wh-words (It can be a part of the meaning of a wh-word; Not wh-word itself). 誰 only means 'some variable (something that does not have a fixed reference) that ranges over people'. Depending on what particle it is used with, it would be translated into different words in English:

誰 who
誰か someone
誰も anyone/everyone

share|improve this answer
Thank you so much! I haven't learned about indeterminates yet. You were very helpful. It makes a lot of sense now. n_n – kraftydinosaur Dec 1 '11 at 20:21
up vote 3 down vote

used with a negative verb 誰も means no one or nobody.

誰もその卑わいな冗談を笑わなかった。No one laughed at the obscene joke.

Used with a regular verb (positive?) it can mean anyone, anybody, everybody or everyone.

誰もがその話を知っている。Everyone knows that story.

誰もそのことに異存［異論］はない。Everyone agrees about that.　（No one objects to that.)

here are a number of examples http://eow.alc.co.jp/誰もその/UTF-8/?ref=sa

share|improve this answer
Thank you! The examples are very helpful. – kraftydinosaur Dec 1 '11 at 20:22
2  
[誰もその話を知っている。Everyone knows that story.] - Shouldn't that be 誰でも or 誰もが? – istrasci Dec 1 '11 at 23:09
I also was going to ask about 誰でも. So does it mean everyone or anyone? Or something else entirely? – dotnetN00b Mar 6 '12 at 3:48
@dotnetNOOb it can mean everyone , anyone or noone when used with ない. depends on context: eow.alc.co.jp/search?q=誰でも&ref=sa – yadokari Mar 6 '12 at 17:00

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.