Indefinite Reference: 誰か, 何か, どこか | Japanese Grammar

English has separate, unrelated-looking words for indefinite reference: someone, no one, anyone; something, nothing, anything; somewhere, nowhere, anywhere. Japanese builds all of them out of one tidy formula: take a question word (誰 "who," 何 "what," どこ "where," いつ "when") and bolt on one of three particles — か, も, or でも. Learn the formula once and you get the whole grid for free. This page focuses on the か "some-" series and shows how it sits against the も and でも series, so you can see the paradigm as a single system rather than a pile of vocabulary.

The one-formula system

Here is the entire logic on one line: question word + か = "some-", + も (with a negative verb) = "no-", + でも = "any-".

Question word	か → "some-"	も (+ negative) → "no-"	でも → "any-"
誰 dare — who	誰か — someone	誰も…ない — no one	誰でも — anyone
何 nani/nan — what	何か — something	何も…ない — nothing	何でも — anything
どこ doko — where	どこか — somewhere	どこにも…ない — nowhere	どこでも — anywhere
いつ itsu — when	いつか — sometime	(see note)	いつでも — anytime
どれ dore — which	どれか — one of them	どれも…ない — none	どれでも — any one

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The whole indefinite system reduces to three particles: か = some-, も (+ negative) = no-, でも = any-. This maps almost perfectly onto English, so learn it as a paradigm — one rule — instead of memorizing "someone, no one, anyone" as three separate words.

The か series: "some-"

Adding か to a question word turns "who?/what?/where?" into "someone/something/somewhere" — an indefinite, unspecified referent. This is the series you will use most in everyday speech.

誰かが来たみたい。玄関で音がした。

dare ka ga kita mitai. genkan de oto ga shita.

Someone seems to have come. There was a sound at the entrance.

何か食べる？お腹すいたでしょ。

nani ka taberu? onaka suita desho.

Do you want to eat something? You must be hungry.

どこかに行きたいな、今度の連休。

doko ka ni ikitai na, kondo no renkyū.

I'd like to go somewhere over the next long weekend.

いつか一緒に日本を旅行しよう。

itsu ka issho ni Nihon o ryokō shiyō.

Someday let's travel around Japan together.

How particles attach to the か series

This is where English speakers stumble, so here is the rule. The か-indefinite is a noun, so the normal case particles still apply — but two of them behave specially:

Subject が — can attach (誰かが来た) or, in casual speech, drop (誰か来た). Both are fine.
Object を — is almost always dropped: you say 何か食べる, not 何かを食べる (the を version is possible but stiff).
Location / direction に・へ・と — is kept: どこかに行く, 誰かと話す.

誰かに相談したほうがいいよ。一人で抱え込まないで。

dare ka ni sōdan shita hō ga ii yo. hitori de kakaekomanaide.

You should talk it over with someone. Don't carry it all alone. (に is kept)

か vs the bare question word in questions

This is where English's some/any split hides in Japanese. Compare 何か食べる？with 何を食べる？ — both are questions, but they ask completely different things. 何を食べる？ is a genuine wh-question: "What will you eat?" — it expects the food to be named. 何か食べる？ is a yes/no question offering the whole idea of eating: "Shall we eat something? / Do you want anything to eat?" — the answer can simply be "yeah" or "no." English marks this with some- vs the wh-word too ("eat something?" vs "what will you eat?"), so the か is doing the work of English some- inside a question.

週末、どこか行く？それともずっと家？

shūmatsu, doko ka iku? soretomo zutto ie?

Are you going somewhere this weekend? Or home the whole time? (どこか + yes/no — offering the idea of going out; どこ行く？ would ask 'where')

The も series: "no-" (with a negative)

Swap か for も and add a negative verb, and "some-" becomes "no-." The negative is not optional — も itself doesn't mean "no"; it's the pairing of も with a negative that produces "no one / nothing / nowhere." Here too, に is kept in the location word: どこにも…ない.

誰も来なかった。ちょっと寂しかったな。

dare mo konakatta. chotto sabishikatta na.

No one came. It was a little lonely. (も + negative konakatta)

冷蔵庫に何もない。買い物に行かなきゃ。

reizōko ni nani mo nai. kaimono ni ikanakya.

There's nothing in the fridge. I've got to go shopping. (何も + nai)

今日はどこにも行かないで、家でゆっくりする。

kyō wa doko ni mo ikanaide, ie de yukkuri suru.

Today I won't go anywhere; I'll take it easy at home. (どこにも + negative)

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The も series lives or dies by the negative. 何も with an affirmative verb doesn't mean "nothing" — the "no-" meaning only appears when the verb is negative (…ない, …なかった). Forget the negative and the sentence falls apart.

There are two honest complications:

1. The いつ row is irregular. いつも does not mean "no time" — it means "always" (affirmative!). For "never," Japanese uses a different pattern: 一度も…ない ("not even once") or 決して…ない.

2. With an affirmative verb, the も series flips to "every-". 誰もが (with が, affirmative) means "everyone"; どこも (affirmative) can mean "everywhere." So も is really "the totality particle": negative totality = "no-," positive totality = "every-."

その事件のことは、誰もが知っていた。

sono jiken no koto wa, dare mo ga shitte ita.

Everyone knew about that incident. (誰もが + affirmative = 'everyone', not 'no one')

The でも series: "any-"

Adding でも gives "any-" in the sense of "it doesn't matter which" — free choice. It pairs naturally with できる (can), いい (is fine/okay), and similar.

これは誰でもできる簡単な作業です。

kore wa dare demo dekiru kantan na sagyō desu.

This is a simple task that anyone can do.

何でもいいよ。君が決めて。

nan demo ii yo. kimi ga kimete.

Anything's fine. You decide. (何でも — read nan demo)

いつでも連絡してね。待ってるから。

itsu demo renraku shite ne. matteru kara.

Message me anytime. I'll be waiting.

Why this beats memorizing word by word

Because the three-way か / も / でも split maps so cleanly onto some- / no- / any-, the efficient move is to learn the rule, not the fifteen individual words. Once you know that 誰 is "who," you automatically get 誰か (someone), 誰も…ない (no one), and 誰でも (anyone) — and the same three moves apply to 何, どこ, いつ, どれ. English forces you to memorize who / someone / no one / anyone as four unrelated forms; Japanese gives you one base plus three predictable particles. The systematic full table — including 何度も, どうにか, なんでも and the finer edge cases — lives on Question Word + か / も / でも; this page is your entry point into it.

Common mistakes

❌ 誰が来た。

Incorrect for 'someone came' — without か, 誰が来た means 'WHO came?', a question.

✅ 誰か来た。

dare ka kita.

Someone came. (the か is what makes it indefinite)

❌ 何食べる？

Incorrect for 'eat something' — 何食べる？ means 'WHAT will you eat?', a question about the specific food.

✅ 何か食べる？

nani ka taberu?

Shall we eat something? / Want something to eat? (か makes it 'something')

❌ 何か食べなかった。

Incorrect for 'ate nothing' — 何か + negative muddles 'something' with a negative. 'Nothing' needs the も series.

✅ 何も食べなかった。

nani mo tabenakatta.

I ate nothing. (も + negative = 'nothing')

❌ どこも行かない。

Nonstandard for 'go nowhere' — the direction particle に is needed on the location word.

✅ どこにも行かない。

doko ni mo ikanai.

I'm not going anywhere. (どこにも keeps に)

❌ 誰も来た。

Incorrect for 'nobody came' — the も 'no-' meaning requires a negative verb; with an affirmative 来た it breaks.

✅ 誰も来なかった。

dare mo konakatta.

Nobody came. (も must pair with a negative)

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