Japanese demonstratives · day 3

こそあど

this · that · that over there · which — with fruit & vegetables
習

The lesson

Every word in this family starts with one of four sounds. The starting sound tells you distance from the speaker — or, for do-, that you're asking.

StartMeansPicture it as
ko-near the speaker (you)in your hand
so-near the listenerover by them
a-far from bothacross the street
do-the question: which? where?you don't know yet

Where each thing sits

You are the Speaker. The produce below is placed at the three distances. The do- words are what you say when you don't know which/where.

banana far stand far → a- Speaker (this is you) strawberry near you → ko- Listener (other person) carrot near them → so- ？ which? where? → do-
Distance is measured from you, the speaker — not from the page.

The whole grid

Four columns (the distances) × three rows (what kind of word). Read a column top-to-bottom and you get a matched set.

near you
ko-		 near them
so-		 far
a-		 question
do-
thing
(pronoun)		 koreこれ · this one soreそれ · that one areあれ · that one doreどれ · which one
+ noun konoこの ___ · this ___ sonoその ___ · that ___ anoあの ___ · that ___ donoどの ___ · which ___
place kokoここ · here sokoそこ · there asokoあそこ · over there dokoどこ · where
Two things to watch: the place word for "far" is asoko (not "ako") — the one irregular cell. And a + noun word can never stand alone: it's kono ringo, never just "kono."

Asking questions

"What" is its own word: なに / なん nani / nan (use nan before desu). Here are the four patterns your slides showed:

kore wa nan desu ka.What is this?
dore desu ka.Which one is it?
dono ringo desu ka.Which apple is it?
doko desu ka.Where is it?

Pattern to remember: [topic] wa [question word] desu ka. The little か ka at the end is the spoken question mark.

Where is it?

Use the place row. Ask with doko, answer with koko / soko / asoko.

doko desu ka.Where is it?
koko desu.(It) is here.
soko desu.(It) is there.
asoko desu.(It) is over there.

What is this?

Point at something near you and ask. Answer with the noun, or a full sentence.

kore wa nan desu ka.What is this?
sakana.(A) fish.
kore wa sakana desu.This is a fish.

Telling what something is

Use kore wa ___ desu to name something near you. Loanwords like tomato stay in katakana.

kore wa tomato desu.This is a tomato.
kore wa ringo desu.This is an apple.

Which one?

dono always needs a noun right after it — you can't say "dono" alone in a sentence.

dono?Which (one)? — casual
dono saifu desu ka.Which wallet is it?
dono ringo desu ka.Which apple is it?

Wanting vs. asking for something

Two different patterns — don't mix them up:

PatternUse it for
___ ga hoshii desu.I want ___ — stating a desire
___ o kudasai.Please give me ___ — requesting/ordering

"I want" — が ほしい です

___ ga hoshii desu.I want ___.
ringo ga hoshii desu.I want an apple.

"Please give me" — を ください

At a shop or restaurant, put the item before o kudasai. Add onegaishimasu to be extra polite.

___ o kudasai.___ please. / Give me ___, please.
onegaishimasu.Please. (polite add-on)
ringo o kudasai. onegaishimasu.An apple, please.
練

Let's practice!

Tap a card to reveal the answer. Order shuffles every refresh.

聞

Listening drill

Train your ears. Tap ▶ to hear the Japanese, listen a few times, say your own answer out loud — then tap the card to check the meaning, romaji, and kana. Order shuffles every refresh.

Loading audio…

語

Vocab — fruit & vegetables

You'll use these in the exercises. Loanwords (banana, tomato) are in katakana; the rest are native words.

EnglishJapaneseRomaji
appleringo
strawberryichigo
grapebudou
mandarin orangemikan
bananabanana
tomatotomato
carrotninjin
potatojagaimo
oniontamanegi
cucumberkyuuri
試

Exercises

Answer in romaji. Tap any question to reveal the answer. Order and vocab shuffle every refresh.

    If you slipped: a noun right after "this/that" → use the kono / sono / ano / dono row, never kore/sore. "Where/here/there" → the koko / soko / asoko / doko place row. And the far place word stays irregular: asoko.