8.2. Demonstratives
8.2.1. Three locations
Demonstratives are words to point something based on its location. "This" and "that" are English demonstratives. They can also be used to point something talked about in a conversation, such as "That's a nice idea."English demonstratives and similar words form pairs, one for things near to the speaker and the other for things far from the speaker, such as "this" and "that", "these" and "those", and "here" and "there". But this system is different from Japanese. If you know Spanish, it will help you learn the Japanese demonstratives. Spanish has three locations for demonstratives, instead of two. For example, a masculine singular object is addressed by these three words: éste, ése, and aquél, each representing near to the speaker, near to the addressee, and far from both. This is the same as Japanese. In this system, not only the speaker's position but also the addressee's position is important. You might think this is complicated, but remember most languages have three kinds of personal pronouns: first person (the speaker), second person (the addressee), and third person (other people). Having three locations for demonstratives is the same as having three kinds of personal pronouns.
Some Japanese demonstratives are shown below:
| Kana: | これ |
| Romanization: | ko re |
| Meaning: | this one |
| Kana: | それ |
| Romanization: | so re |
| Meaning: | that one |
| Kana: | あれ |
| Romanization: | a re |
| Meaning: | that one |
These are equivalents of this and that, but I added the word one after this and that because they do not combine with the following noun.
The first one and the second one are the same in English, but they are different in Japanese (and in Spanish, as I have written). The first one, これ, is used for a thing near to the speaker. The second one, それ, is used for a thing near to the addressee. And the third one, あれ, is used for a thing far from both. For instance, imagine both you and a friend have an apple. You call your apple これ and your friend's apple それ. If you and your friend see an apple on a table, both of you call it あれ.
Demonstratives used in conversation depends on the location of the speaker, the addressee, and the thing that is referred to. The table below shows which demonstratives to be used when A and B are talking:
| The location of the referred object | Demonstratives used by A | Demonstratives used by B |
|---|---|---|
| near to both A and B | これ ko re this | これ ko re this |
| nearer to A | これ ko re this | それ so re that |
| nearer to B | それ so re that | これ ko re this |
| far from both A and B | あれ a re that | あれ a re that |
Note that それ and あれ are not used together.
8.2.2. The ko-so-a-do words
You might have noticed that the Japanese words for this and that I explained above, これ, それ, andあれ, are similar in pronunciation. The Japanese word for which is also similar; it is どれ "dore". Not only these demonstrative pronouns but also other demonstratives and interrogatives have systematic phonemes.
The demonstratives and interrogatives with the systematic phonemes are called こそあどことば "kosoadokotoba", the ko-so-a-do words. こ "ko" is the prefix for things near to the speaker and not nearer to the addressee, そ "so" is for things nearer to the addressee, あ "a" is for things far from both, and ど "do" is for interrogatives.
The table below shows most of the ko-so-a-do words:
| Location | Demonstratives Near to the speaker | Demonstratives Near to the addressee | Demonstratives Far from both | Interrogatives |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pronoun (thing) | これ ko re this one | それ so re that one | あれ a re that one | どれ do re which one |
| Pronoun (place) | ここ ko ko this place, here | そこ so ko that place, there | あそこ a so ko that place, there | どこ do ko where |
| Pronoun (direction) | こっち ko t ti this direction | そっち so t ti that direction | あっち a t ti that direction | どっち do t ti which direction |
| Attributive (thing) | この ko no this ... | その so no that ... | あの a no that ... | どの do no which ... |
| Attributive (type) | こんな ko n na this kind of ... | そんな so n na that kind of ... | あんな a n na that kind of ... | どんな do n na what kind of ... |
| Attributive (manner) | こう kô thus, in this manner | そう sô in that manner | ああ â in that manner | どんな dô how |
Note that pronouns and attributives are different. Pronouns cannot combine with a noun, while attributives need the following noun. The English word this is used for both "this is a pen" (pronoun) and "this pen is blue" (attributive), but they are different in Japanese. The former is これ "kore", and the latter is この "kono". Compare the English words we and our. We categorize the former as a pronoun and the latter as an attributive here.
Note that the demonstrative pronoun for a place far from both the speaker and the addressee is あそこ "asoko", not あこ "ako".
Here is an example of ko-so-a-do words:
| Kana: | えきはどこですか。 |
| Romanization: | E ki wa do ko de su ka . |
| Structure: | (noun, station) (topic marker) (pronoun, where) (copula, is + polite) (question marker) |
| Meaning: | Where is the station? |
| Kana: | えきはあっちです。 |
| Romanization: | E ki wa a t ti de su . |
| Structure: | (noun, station) (topic marker) (pronoun, that direction) (copula, is + polite) |
| Meaning: | The station is in that direction. (pointing in some direction) |
- Next article in the series 'Teach Yourself Japanese': Body parts in Japanese
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