[General] Who is that boy? He is a student.

[Jeff Yin]

"Who is that boy?"
"He is a student."
I am quite confused with the answer.
Can we answer in this way or do native speakers say it in this way?

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

"Who is that boy?"
"He is a student."
I am quite confused with the answer.
Can we answer in this way or do native speakers say it in this way?

Yes and yes.

But we're more likely to say, "He's a student."

 

[Jeff Yin]

Yes and yes.

But we're more likely to say, "He's a student."

Thank you!
Do you think it will be better if the question is "What is that boy"?

 

[tedmc]

I think "What is that boy?" tends to be a bit rude. It is asking about one's status.

 

[emsr2d2]

Thank you!
Do you think it will be better if the question is "What is that boy"?

That would be unnatural. In general, we use "Who" for people and "What" for things. If you asked "What does that boy do?", you'd get "He's a student". If you asked "Who's that boy?" you might get his name, or his relationship to the person you asked, or some other information (as in post #1).

Who's that boy?
That's Samuel.

Who's that boy?
That's my cousin Samuel.

Who's that boy?
He's a student in my year but I don't know his name.