Japanese Lesson for beginners 1-3 あの人はだれですか。-- アンドレアさんです。 みなさん、こんにちは。 - minasan, konnnichiwa. 麻子です。（あさこです） - Asako desu. See the picture which is the end of the post. Aさん is asking Bさん who that person ( Cさん ) is. in Japanese, you say... あの人 は だれ ですか。 (あのひと は だれ ですか） - ano hito wa dare desu ka. -- who is that person? --- あの人 （あのひと）=that person 人(じん）for 日本人（にほんじん）can be read in some ways, such as "ひと", "じん", "にん"... and so on. あの = "that" in this situation. We'd focus about this/that in another lesson coming shortly. だれ means person who you are not sure, simply, "who". --- あの人 は だれ です か。 (あのひと はだれですか。） - ano hito wa dare desu ka. -- who is that person? あの人 は Cさん です。 (あのひと はCさんです。） - ano hito wa Csan desu. -- that is C. We have another way to ask the same but politer than this. あの方 は どなた です か。 （あのかたはどなたですか） - ano kata wa donata desuka. It means completely same, but the second one is much politer than the 1st. I wouldn't explain the details about かた, どなた here. However, you probably would realise that what you should do is just to exchange "だれ" and "どなた", "ひと" and "かた"　in this sentence. That's enough so far. :-) Alright then, Now we know how to ask about people who's far from you. What about how to ask people in front of you about their name? What do you think? あなた は だれ です か？ would be correct? Ye....s but it is too direct so it would be rude. You don't say that also in English, do you? So, the below would be fine. お名前 は 何 です か。（おなまえ は なん です か） - onamae wa nan desu ka. -- May I have your name? --- 名前(なまえ）＝name お is a prefix which is used to express politeness. 何（なん）＝what. it can be read "なん" and "なに" (and unfortunately, more). --- だれ means "who you are not sure"、and 何（なに、なん）means "what you are not sure". It is so-called "an interrogative" . We'll learn the others in another lesson. わかりますか？ - wakarimasu ka? -- Do you understand? We'll learn a bit more about how to talk for the first time. The next time would be the final. How do you say when you found the similarity between you and the others? You put "too" or "as well" at the end of the sentence in English, don't you? However, Japanese don't. Lets learn it next time. では、また明日(あした）！（or あさって？） See you tomorrow! (or the day after tomorrow?)