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Difference between yoko/よこ and tonari/となり

sushiyaki

後輩
28 Feb 2006
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Hi folks,

Yoko and Tonari both mean beside or next to. But what exactly are the differences. Please explain and give examples to help illustrate your explanation.

All that we learned is that となり can't be used for two dissimilar things. For example, you can NOT say.
でんわは 人のとなりに 有ります.

Our teacher said we must use よこ:
でんわは 人のよこに あります。


When must yoko be used? When must tonari be used? When must NOT yoko be used? When must NOT tonari be used?
 
Hi folks,
Yoko and Tonari both mean beside or next to. But what exactly are the differences. Please explain and give examples to help illustrate your explanation.
All that we learned is that となり can't be used for two dissimilar things. For example, you can NOT say.
でんわは 人のとなりに 有ります.
Our teacher said we must use よこ:
でんわは 人のよこに あります。
When must yoko be used? When must tonari be used? When must NOT yoko be used? When must NOT tonari be used?
Tonari, soba and yoko are all basically interchangable for beside, adjacent to, or next to. As your question implies, Tonari can never be used to describe the position of two dissimilar categories of nouns. That's the only restriction by use of the three words I have ever encountered.
 
So anytime you can use tonari, you can also use yoko?

For example,

ぎんこうは スーパーのとなりに 有ります。
is ok.


Is the following sentence just as good:
ぎんこうは スーパーよこに 有ります。
?
 
So anytime you can use tonari, you can also use yoko?

For example,

ぎんこうは スーパーのとなりに 有ります。
is ok.


Is the following sentence just as good:
ぎんこうは スーパーよこに 有ります。
?
Mostly yes, but you need to understand the origin of these two words.
横(よこ)suggests the horizontal/lateral direction, so the location must be "adjacent to" at the side of an object.
隣(となり)suggests the presence of a series of objects, and the object that is closest is what you call "tonari." So, this means it is not necessarily "next to" but "proximity in terms of distance."

HTH! :)
 
So anytime you can use tonari, you can also use yoko?

For example,

ぎんこうは スーパーのとなりに 有ります。
is ok.


Is the following sentence just as good:
ぎんこうは スーパーよこに 有ります。
?
The よこ is fine, although not as common as となり.

It just needs の。スーパー:)
 
What I need to ask next is how you can say "similar things" or "similar type of thing" to fit a translation of the "tonari" problem.


類似したカテゴリー(類似している種類??) ? 同様な種類・カテゴリー :?


OK...these are all apparently passable "in theory", with the POSSIBLE exception of 類似 which apparently isn't used with humans. So if I wanted to say となり segregates location information in sentences by class (animate vs. inanimate), the safest bet for "similar categories" would be the most straightforward -- something like 同様な(同じような)種類・カテゴリー ?


I can make this grammar point understood in Japanese a few different ways, but anyone with a better idea please let me know ! 😌
 
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Hi folks,
Yoko and Tonari both mean beside or next to. But what exactly are the differences. Please explain and give examples to help illustrate your explanation.
All that we learned is that となり can't be used for two dissimilar things. For example, you can NOT say.
でんわは 人のとなりに 有ります.
Our teacher said we must use よこ:
でんわは 人のよこに あります。
When must yoko be used? When must tonari be used? When must NOT yoko be used? When must NOT tonari be used?
The most definate point of distinction occurs between inanimate (mono, things) and living things (ikimono). It's not to say there may not be other context sensitivity here and there. But what absolutely sounds too strange is to say a person is 'tonari' relative to that building over there.
 
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Any idea why there is such a restriction on 隣?
This probably has to do with its origins in Chinese. In Chinese, its meaning is restricted to 'neighbor' or 'neighboring' and is rarely used as 'adjacent'.
 
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