LinguaThree distances, not two
Many languages divide the world into “this” and “that”. Japanese divides it three ways, and the middle one is what makes the system work: これ is near me, それ is near you, あれ is away from both of us. The question word どれ asks which of several. Notice that それ is not “that far away” – it belongs to the listener's space, and using it for something in your own hand sounds wrong at once.
| Word | Where the thing is |
|---|---|
| これ | near the speaker |
| それ | near the listener |
| あれ | away from both |
| どれ | which of several |
These four stand alone
これ, それ, あれ and どれ replace a noun rather than describe one, so nothing follows them directly: you say これはじしょです, never これじしょ. To put a word after the pointer you need a different set, この・その・あの・どの, which is the next lesson. Confusing the two is the commonest slip at this stage, and the test is simple: if a noun follows, the short form is wrong.
それはあたらしいざっしですThat one by you is a new magazine.
どれがわたしのかぎですかWhich one is my key?
Words in this lesson
| Word | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| これ | this one | これはじしょです This is a dictionary. |
| それ | that one near you | それはざっしですか Is that a magazine? |
| あれ | that one over there | あれはわたしのかさです That over there is my umbrella. |
| どれ | which one | どれがいいですか Which one would you like? |
| じしょ | dictionary | にほんごのじしょ a Japanese dictionary |
| かぎ | key | へやのかぎ the key to the room |
| ざっし | magazine | あたらしいざっし a new magazine |
| しんぶん | newspaper | きょうのしんぶん today's newspaper |
| てちょう | pocket notebook | くろいてちょう a black pocket notebook |
| けしゴム | eraser | けしゴムをかしてください Please lend me an eraser. |
Exercises
This lesson has 10 exercises in the app:
- multiple choice: 3
- match the pairs: 1
- fill the gap: 2
- build the sentence: 2
- translate the sentence: 1
- listen and type: 1
Try the first one
You are holding something and want to say what it is. Which word do you start with?
The answer, the other exercises, the audio and your progress are in the app – free at A0 and A1.