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Demonstrative Pronouns in Japanese: これ, それ, あれ
Today we’re going to look at demonstrative pronouns in Japanese! Essentially these pronouns mean ‘this’ or ‘that’ in English but it’s a little tricky deciphering the difference between them, since there are a lot of versions of these words in Japanese.
これ, それ, あれ
These three words are probably the most commonly used Japanese demonstrative pronouns. When referencing objects in English we would say “this” or “that”, but in Japanese they would say “this”, “that”, and “that over there”.
これ : refers to an object that is near or closest to the speaker.
それ : refers to an object that is near or closest to the listener.
あれ : refers to an object that is far away from both the speaker and listener.
If the speaker and listener are close enough together they can be considered as one entity and both view close objects as これ, objects slightly further away as それ, and objects far away as あれ. The question word for these set of pronouns is どれ and this means “which”.
For example:
あなたのカバンはどれですか。
Which is your bag?
それは私のカバンです。
That is my bag.
この, その, あの
These set of demonstrative adjectives can modify the noun that follows them and are used in a similar way to これ, それ, あれ. The rule is always: このnoun, そのnoun, and あのnoun.
この : refers to an object that is near or closest to the speaker.
その : refers to an object that is near or closest to the listener.
あの : refers to an object that is far away from both the speaker and listener.
If the speaker and listener are close enough together they can be considered as one entity and both view close objects as この, objects slightly further away as その, and objects far away as あの. The question word for these set of pronouns is どの and this means “which”.
For example:
どのカバンが森さんのですか。
Which bag is Mr Mori’s?
そのかばんは森さんのです。
That bag is Mr Mori’s.
ここ, そこ, あそこ
In regards to これ, etc. and この, etc., these words referred to things, but ここ, そこ, あそこ refer to places.
ここ : refers to a place where the speaker is.
そこ : refers to the place where the listener is.
あそこ : refers to a place which is far away from both the speaker and listener.
Similarly to the previous demonstrative pronouns, if the speaker and listener are close enough together they can be considered as one entity and both view the same location that they share as ここ、a place that is a slight distance away from them as そこ, and a place that is far away from the both of them as あそこ. The question word for these set of pronouns is どこ and this means “where”.
For example:
トイレはどこですか。
Where is the toilet?
あそこです。
It’s over there.
こちら, そちら, あちら
These set of pronouns are very similar to ここ, etc., but can be considered more polite. The difference between ここ, etc. and こちら, そちら, あちら is that the latter can refer to places (locations) and can also point someone in a particular direction.
For example:
ここ・here・location word
こちら・this way・direction word
Note: こちら can also be used to mean “I” or “We”. The casual version of こちら is こっち.
Below is a table of the most common demonstratives:
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