Learn how to use demonstrative words in Japanese
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| Jessi: Ko-so-a-do words. Hi everyone and welcome to appendix lesson #9. In this lesson, we will be looking at Ko-so-a-do words. Ko-so-a-do words are words that indicate what you are talking about. |
| Naomi: Words like this and that are some examples. |
| Jessi: Now, the reason we call them Ko-so-a-do words is because they all start with either Ko, so, a or do. This prefix tells us the location or the object’s distance relative to the speaker. The first one is |
| Naomi: こ (ko) |
| Jessi: The prefix こ (ko) means near the speaker. The next one is |
| Naomi: そ (so) |
| Jessi: The prefix そ (so) means close to the listener but a bit far from the speaker. The next one is |
| Naomi: あ (a) |
| Jessi: The prefix あ (a) means at a distance from the speaker and the listener and the last one is? |
| Naomi: ど (do) |
| Jessi: Now, this one doesn’t refer to a location but instead is used for question words. Remember these prefixes and their meanings. There are four sets of words that we are going to go through. So let’s get started. The first set are words that are used on their own. I will give the English and Naomi-sensei will give us the Japanese. The first word means this |
| Naomi: これ (kore) |
| Jessi: That |
| Naomi: それ (sore) |
| Jessi: That over there |
| Naomi: あれ (are) |
| Jessi: Which one |
| Naomi: どれ (dore) |
| Jessi: So these words are standalone and cannot be followed by a noun. So for example, we could say |
| Naomi: これはコーヒーです。(Kore wa kōhī desu.) |
| Jessi: Which means, this is coffee. Now, what if you want to specify this coffee? |
| Naomi: For that, you use the next set of words. These words must be followed by a noun. |
| Jessi: Right. And they have the same meanings as the words we just covered, this and that but they need to have a noun right after them. So let’s go through those. This noun as in this coffee. |
| Naomi: この (kono) noun |
| Jessi: That noun |
| Naomi: その (sono) noun |
| Jessi: That noun over there |
| Naomi: あの (ano) noun |
| Jessi: Which noun |
| Naomi: どの (dono) noun |
| Jessi: So where we said noun after those words, that’s where you put the word that you are talking about. |
| Naomi: Right. |
| Jessi: Let’s show a few examples. We mentioned coffee. So how do we say this coffee? |
| Naomi: このコーヒー (kono kōhī). Right after この (kono) you need the noun, コーヒー (kōhī). |
| Jessi: That’s right. So how about another one. Say you are looking for a certain bus, how would you say which bus? |
| Naomi: どのバス (dono basu) |
| Jessi: And how would you say that bus over there? |
| Naomi: あのバス (ano basu) |
| Jessi: Right. Now, let’s move on to the Ko-so-a-do words that describe places. The word for here is |
| Naomi: ここ (koko) |
| Jessi: There |
| Naomi: そこ (soko) |
| Jessi: Over there. This word talks about a farther distance from both the speaker and the listener. |
| Naomi: あそこ (asoko) |
| Jessi: Where |
| Naomi: どこ (doko) |
| Jessi: Good. Now, let’s hear an example. |
| Naomi: 私はここです。(Watashi wa koko desu.) |
| Jessi: This means, I am here. |
| Naomi: Next is the last set of Ko-so-a-do words. |
| Jessi: And these are used when talking politely about people or things or directions. The first word can mean this, this person or this way. This word is |
| Naomi: こちら (kochira) |
| Jessi: The word for that, that person, that way is |
| Naomi: そちら (sochira) |
| Jessi: The word for that, that person that way over there is |
| Naomi: あちら (achira) |
| Jessi: The word for which, who, which way is |
| Naomi: どちら (dochira) |
| Jessi: So, for example, when introducing someone, we could say... |
| Naomi: こちらは鈴木さんです。(Kochira wa Suzuki-san desu.) |
| Jessi: This is Mr. Suzuki. |
| Naomi: You might also remember the phrase you learned in Gengo Japanese. |
| こちらへどうぞ。(Kochira e dōzo.) |
| Jessi: This way please. So just remember to pay attention to the prefix ko, so, a or do. That will tell you the location being referred to. |
| Naomi: In the lesson notes, there is a last table comparing all of these sets of words. So be sure to check it out. |
| Jessi: That’s all for this lesson. See you next time. |
| Naomi: じゃ、また。(Ja, mata.) |
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