"This Noun" and "That Noun" (この, その, あの, どの)

The last set of ko-so-a-do words are この (kono), その (sono), あの (ano), and どの (dono). These words also mean "this" and "that," like これ, それ, あれ, and どれ. However, これ, それ, あれ, and どれ refers to an object as "this thing" and "that thing" whereas この, その, あの, and どのare followed by a noun to mean "this (noun)" and "that (noun)." Just remember: the -れ words are always by themselves and the -の words always have a noun.

これはえんぴつです。 (kore wa enpitsu desu)
This is a pencil.

このえんぴつは。。。 (kono enpitsu wa)
This pencil is...

This is the difference between これ and この. この is followed by a noun to make it specific (this pencil), and これ by itself refers to an object (this object near me).

So following the ko-so-a-do pattern we've learned before, here are the definitions of この, その, あの, and どの:

この + NOUN = this NOUN (NOUN is near the speaker)

その + NOUN = that NOUN (NOUN is near the listener)

あの + NOUN = that NOUN (NOUN far from both speaker and listener)

どの + NOUN = which NOUN (question word)

Like どれ, どの also means "which," the difference being that どの needs a noun after it. Also, どの + NOUN cannot have the particle は after it and must use が.

どのえんぴつがやすいですか。 (dono enpitsu ga takai desu ka)
Which pencil is cheap?

どれがやすいですか。 (dore ga yasui desu ka)
Which one is cheap?

And with this, we are done with our ko-so-a-do words!

Here and There (ここ, そこ, あそこ, どこ)

 Here are another set of ko-so-a-do words. Like これ, それ, あれ, and どれ, which corresponds to objects of relative distances, these words correspond to relative locations.

ここ (koko) = here (near me, the speaker)

そこ (soko) = there (near you, the person being spoken to)

あそこ (asoko) = over there (far from both the speaker and listener)

どこ (doko) = where (question word)

As you can see, these words are very similar to the other ones because of ko-so-a-do. The good thing though is that the overall meaning hasn't really changed, and you probably noticed that.

こ: close to you
そ: close to listener
あ: far from both speaker and listener
ど: question word

I hope things are beginning to make sense with ko-so-a-do. It's very simple once it's understood.

This and That (これ, それ, あれ)

これ (kore) means "this." It refers to an object that is close to the speaker. If you're the speaker talking about an object near you, you would use これ.

それ (sore) means "that," but you use it when the object is close to the person you are talking to. Imagine if you were buying something and the object was behind the counter near the cashier. If you were to point out something that you wanted that was near the cashier, you would use それ (and they would use これ because it is near them).

あれ (are) refers to an object that is far from you and the person you are talking to. So if you pointed to something out at night in the sky and told someone to look at it, you would use あれ. If the person you were talking to is speaking about that same thing, they would use あれ also.

Another word that can be related to these words is どれ (dore), meaning "which." It is a question word. You use どれ to specify an object. Some question words like どれ and なに cannot be followed by the particle は, and must use the particle が (ga). We'll learn more about that later.

どれがやすいですか。 (dore ga yasui desu ka?)
Which one is cheap?

Together, these set of words are called "ko-so-a-do." Take the first characters of これ, それ, あれ, and どれ, and you get こそあど (ko-so-a-do). There are more words similar to these that are in the set of ko-so-a-do, and we'll learn them next.

Asking a Question

Asking questions in Japanese is not difficult at all. You simply add か (ka) to the end of a sentence. Take for example the X は Y です format.

せんせいはきびしいです。(sensei wa kibishii desu)

The teach is strict.

Add か to the end of the sentence and you get:

せんせいはきびしいですか。(sensei wa kibishii desu ka)

Is the teacher strict?

That's pretty much all there is to it. Here are a few question words:

なに, なん (nani, nan) = what

どこ (doko) = where

いつ (itsu) = when

どうして (doushite) = why

There are two forms of "what," なに and なん. You use なに when it comes before a particle, and you use なん when it comes before a counter*, or です.

なに

なにがおかしいですか。 (nani ga okashii desu ka)

What is (so) funny?

なん

せんせいはなんさいですか。 (sensei wa nansai desu ka)

How old is (the) teacher?

なっとうはなんですか。 (nattou wa nan desu ka)

What is nattō?

*counters are used for when numbering things. The counter for age is -さい

That's all there really is to なに and なん. Make sure that when you ask a question in Japanese, you pronounce か with a rising tone, otherwise you'll sound monotone.

More Particles!

Last time, we learned about the particle は. There are more particles, and knowing them will help you form sentences. Let's take a look at a few more particles, namely で (de), に (ni), へ (he), and を (wo).

The particle で tells us where an action takes place. It is placed after the location and before the verb.

こうえんでテニスをしました。 (kouen de TENISU wo shimashita)
I played tennis at the park.

The particle に has a lot of meanings, and will most likely be a particle that will confuse you at times. For now though, let's just take a look at two of its meaning: movement consisting of a goal, and the time something happens (it is placed after a time reference).

わたしはこうえんにいきます。 (watashi wa kouen ni ikimasu)
I will go to the park.

ろくじにしゅくだいをします。 (roku ji ni shukudai wo shimasu)
 I will do homework at 6 o'clock.
*じ = hour

The particle へ, pronounced "e" (like え),  is also used for movement. It's basically another version of に, but strictly only the meaning of having a goal for movement. You can use に and へ interchangeably, but again, only in the sense of movement towards something.

The particle を, pronounced "o" (like お), indicates objects/nouns that are affected by an action/verb. It is placed after the object and before the action in a sentence.

きょう、テニスをします。 (kyou, TENISU wo shimasu)
Today, I will play tennis.
*します = to do, so literally, the sentence means "Today, I will do tennis."

As you can see, を takes place after テニス, meaning that テニス is the noun being affected by the verb, します.

With more practice, understanding of particles will come naturally. The more you see them, the easier of a time you'll have. Also, many verbs are specific with which particles they use. That means you'll have to memorize which correct particle to use or else your sentence won't be correct.

The Particle は

Particles are probably one of the most confusing things about learning Japanese. Due to the fact that particles all have their rules and uses, and some verbs using certain particles, among other things, students often find themselves using the wrong particles or forgetting which particle to use.

So we'll start out with the particle は . In the previous lessons, we used は in the sentence "X はY です。" は is pronounced "wa" and not "ha," even though it uses that character. What is は? It is a topic marker. It is used to mark the item of focus in a sentence.

せんせいはわかいです。(sensei wa wakai desu)
The teacher is young.

In this example, the subject, せんせい, is the item of focus. Keep in mind though that は marks the item of focus and not necessarily the subject of the sentence. Take for example this sentence:

せんせい、しゅうまつはいそがしいですか。 (sensei, shuumatsu wa isogashii desu ka?)
Teacher, is your weekend busy?

As you can see, the subject of the sentence is せんせい, but the object of focus within the sentence is しゅうまつ (weekend). You'll often find it marking other things besides the subject, which is why it is important to remember that it only marks the item of focus in a sentence.

Of course though, this can also help you greatly. Since you know that  は follows the object of focus, you'll know what it is. It can come in handy when someone asks you a seemingly convoluted question:

せんせいがわたしにくれたしゅくだいはどこですか。 (sensei ga watashi ni kureta shukudai wa doko desu ka?)
Where is the homework that the teacher gave me?

I know I've included grammar that is a little more advanced and particles that I haven't mentioned yet, but the point is that when you initially look at a sentence like that, it seems like a lot of things are being said. However, just focus on は. The noun before は is しゅくだい (shukudai = homework). Even though しゅくだい is modified (せんせいがわたしにくれた = given to me by the teacher), は marks the item of interest, which is simply just しゅくだい.

Without even knowing much else of the sentence, you're at least able to realize that they are asking where their homework is. Now, you can point to somewhere near them and yell out "そこです！” (soko desu = there).

There Are 2 Kinds of Adjectives!

In Japanese, there are two kinds of adjectives: い (i) and な (na) adjectives. What's the difference? Like る and う verbs, い-adjectives end in い. な-adjectives are different though, they end in な, but only when they modify a noun.

Take for example the adjective げんき (genki = lively, energetic). By itself, it is an adjective. However, if you modify a noun, な is added at the end of げんき.

げんきながくせい (genkina gakusei) = energetic student

Some example of な adjectives are: すき (suki = likeness), だいすき (daisuki = loveable), しずか (shizuka = quiet), ハンソム (hansomu = handsome), ひま (hima = not busy; free)

い-adjectives are simple in the way that they always end in い even when they modify a noun. Let's use the adjective おもしろい (omoshiroi = interesting).

おもしろいがくせい (omoshiroi gakusei) = interesting student

As you can see, い is still used at the end of the adjective and there is no further need to change it. Some examples of い-adjectives are: ちいさい (chiisai = small), あつい (atsui = hot), たのしい (tanoshii = fun), かわいい (kawaii = cute), むずかしい (muzukashii = difficult)

Like always though, there are strange exceptions. Some adjectives can be used for both, like おおきい (ookii = big). おおきい is an い-adjective, as it ends in い. However, it can also use なwhen it modifies nouns, in which case it would be おきな (okina). The meaning is still the same and both forms of usage are considered correct.

おおきいがくせい (ookii gakusei) = おきながくせい (okiina gakusei) = big student

Now that you know about adjectives, hopefully you'll be able to identify them when you hear them! You've probably heard many Japanese adjectives before, but if you haven't,  you can now recognize most words if they are い- or な-adjectives.

Be careful though! Some adjectives that end in い are in fact な adjectives! For example, きらい (kirai = dislike) ends in い, but is a な adjective, and is きらいな when it modifies nouns. This was a small, but fatal mistake that almost got me into a lot of trouble in Japanese class. Take it from me and make sure you know which adjectives are い- or な-adjectives!

There Are 2 Kinds of Verbs! - う Version

The other main kind of verb is the う verb. The real difference between irregular, る, and う verbs is that they are conjugated differently.

For う verbs, the verbs all end in the う sound. Unlike る verbs where they just ended with る, う verbs end in all other う sounds (く, す, つ, む, ぬ, etc.) INCLUDING る.

Recall that for る verbs, the sound before it was either an い or え sound (i.e. たべる taBERU, おきる oKIRU). For う verbs, it can be any sound. That includes い or え sounds also, making it more confusing!

What does this all mean though? If a verb ends in -ある, うる, or おる, it IS an う verb. If a verb ends in いる or える, it is EITHER a る or う verb. The only way of telling is if you recognize one of its conjugations to distinguish it as る or う, or if you just know what kind of verb it is. Let me give you an example:

かえる (kaeru) - to return
はしる (hashiru) - to run

They both end in いる and える, so that makes them る verbs right? If you were to conjugate these into their -masu forms (drop the る, add -ます), they turn into:

かえます (kaemasu)
はします (hashimasu)

However, this is INCORRECT! It's because these two verbs are う verbs! Their correct -masu forms would be かえります (kaerimasu) and はしります (hashirimasu), respectively. The point here is that if a verb ends in る (even if the sound before it is an い or え sound), it doesn't necessarily make it a る verb! I know this sounds confusing, but you'll eventually learn different conjugations and be able to tell which verbs are る or う.

Here are some examples of  う verbs so you can get a sense of what they look like:

かく (kaku) - to write
よむ (yomu) - to read
はなす (hanasu) - to speak
たつ (tatsu) - to stand
うる (uru) - to sell
あそぶ (asobu) - to play

As you can see, う verbs are much more diverse in the sense that they have more variety in the ending sounds, like -aku in かく (kAKU) and -obu in あそぶ (asOBU).

I know that う verbs seem difficult, but as you learn more and more Japanese you'll learn to tell う and る verbs apart. It'll also be important to recognize the difference too when it comes to seeing conjugated forms so you can work backwards and figure out what the verb actually is. Of course though, this all takes practice, so study hard!