Demonstratives and Interrogatives
This chapter describes demonstrative and interrogative words, that is, words expressing things such as this, that, what, who and where.
The demonstrative and interrogative words are either pronouns, adjectives or adverbs, and may be divided into four groups depending on the prefix:
- ko - Something near the speaker.
- so - Something nearer the listener than the speaker.
- a - Something at a distance from both speaker and listener.
- do - Question
The following picture shows how to use the words for this and that; kore, sore and are. All other words also follow the same pattern.
The pattern is described in the table below:
| | Near speaker | Near listener | Far from both | Question |
| What |
これ
kore
this one
|
それ
sore
that one
|
あれ
are
that one
|
どれ
dore
which
(of 3 or more)
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Which |
この
kono
this [x]
|
どの
sono
that [x]
|
あの
ano
that [x] (over there)
|
どの
dono
which [x],
what kind of [x]
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Direction |
こちら
kochira
this way
|
そちら
sochira
that way
|
あちら
achira
that way
|
どちら
dochira
which way
|
|
|
|
|
|
Type
|
こんな
konna
this kind of
|
そんな
sonna
that kind of
|
あんな
anna
that kind of
|
どんな
donna
which kind
|
|
|
|
|
|
Way/manner
|
こう
kou
in this manner
|
そう
sou
in that manner
|
ああ
aa
in that manner
|
どう
dou
in which manner
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Where |
ここ
koko
here
|
そこ
soko
there
|
あそこ
asoko
over there
|
どこ
doko
where
|
Talking About People
When talking about people, especially if they are present, it is considered rude to use the words kono, sono, ano and dono. For instance, one should avoid sentences like "'kono hito wa dare desu ka" -- it is a rude way of saying to "Who is this person". Instead one should use the polite versions kochira, sochira, achira and donata.
Example - Introducing a Colleague
- A: sochira wa donata desu ka?
- B: kochira wa Tanaka desu.
- A: Who is that person?
- B: This is Tanaka.
Exceptions to Using Polite Language About People
There are, however, also some occasions where it would be natural to use plain ko/so/a/do pronouns for people. For instance if the person you are speaking about cannot hear you, or when talking about your own children.
Example - Referring to someone in a story
In this example, (B) has told (A) a funny story about someone.
|
Japanese:
A：それは誰ですか。
B：それは（P）です。
|
Roomaji:
- A: sore wa dare desu ka?
- B: sore wa P desu.
English:
- A: Who do you refer to?
- B: He/she is P.
|
Example - Looking at a photo
This example shows another valid occasion to use sore for a person. (A) and (B) are talking about a person, who is not present. In the following situation, (B) is holding a photo in his hand.
|
Japanese:
A：ねえ、それ誰。
B：これは妹だよ。
|
Roomaji:
- A: nee, sore dare?
B: (kore wa) imouto da yo.
English:
- A: Say, who is she?
- B: She is my younger sister.
|
Example - Talking about children
You can use the words kore/sore for your child, your students and your pets etc. But you can't use it for other people's children and students, as it would be considered rude. For instance, if a colleague, who does not have children, comes with a child, it may be better to use polite Japanese such as "donata no okosan desu ka?".
In the following situation, at a kindergarten event, a nurse (A) finds an unknown child and asks another nurse (B) about this. The child's mother (C) comes into the conversation.
|
Japanese:
A：この子は誰ですか。
B：さあ．．．
C：すみません、それは家の子です。
|
Romaji:
- A: kono ko wa dare desu ka?
- B: saa...
- C: sumimasen, sore wa uchi no ko desu.
English:
- A: Who is this child?
- B: I'm not sure...
- C: Sorry, he is my (our) child.
|
Example - Pets
Sometimes "dare" is used for pets. For example, if you found a piece of cake was damaged on the table in the kitchen, and your cats are still in the room - it's obvious that one or more cat is
the culprit, but you don't know who did it. So, you could ask them:
|
Japanese:
あれを食べたのは誰。
|
Romaji:
English:
|
Other Interrogative Pronouns
Some other interrogative pronouns are the following:
| 誰［だれ］ |
dare |
who |
| どなた |
donata |
who (polite) |
| どちらさま |
dochirasama |
who (very polite) |
| なん、何［なに］ |
nan, nani |
what |
| 何人 ［なんにん］ |
nannin |
how many people |
| 幾ら ［いくら］ |
ikura |
how much |
| 幾つ［いくつ］ |
ikutsu |
how many |
| いつ |
itsu |
when |
| どうして、なぜ |
doushite, naze |
why? |
| どうやって、どのように |
douyatte, donoyouni |
how? |
| どのような |
donoyouna |
which kind of? |
| どのくらい |
donokurai |
how long? |
Credit
This page was written by the StudyJapanese team.
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its very effective
N.B. As a newbie, I just learnt to use aru/arimasu for the existence of inanimate objects, and iru/imasu for living things. So, to ask where a place is, I would say:
"[place] wa doko ni arimasu ka?"
Like:
Neko desu ka? -> Is it the cat?
Neko ga imasu ka? -> Is there a cat [here/there]?
And:
Watashi wa koko desu. -> I’m here.
Watashi wa koko ni imasu. -> I’m here/I’ll stay here.
And (if I understood these Aiko lyrics properly):
Jibun wa hontou ni koko ni iru no? -> Am I really here?