こ・そ・あ・ど
The demonstrative pronouns in Japanese are called こ・そ・あ・ど words. For the most part, they work the same way as in English. In this lesson, you will learn the demonstrative pronouns and the use of the particle の (no).
By the the end of the lesson, you will know how to use the demonstrative pronouns and the particle の.
このほんはおもしろいです！This means 'this book is interesting' in Japanese. この is one demonstrative pronoun in Japanese that we will learn about today. Demonstrative pronouns will indicate which entities we are referring to, distinguishing them from other entities. The demonstrative pronouns in Japanese somewhat work the same way as in English, as they work on proximity. There are two types of demonstrative pronouns in Japanese, however; demonstrative pronouns that precede a noun and demonstrative pronouns that precede a particle.
この - this (close to the speaker and listener)
その - that (close to the listener but far from the speaker)
あの - that (far from both)
どの - which (question word of the demonstrative pronoun)
These demonstrative pronouns will always precede a noun.
このねこはかわいいです。
Kono neko wa kawaii desu.
This cat is cute.
そのいえはおおきいですね。
Sono ie wa ookii desu ne.
That house is big, isn't it?
あのひとはさくらです。
Ano hito wa Sakura desu.
That person is Sakura.
これ - this (close to the speaker and listener)
それ - that (close to the listener but far from the speaker)
あれ - that (far from both)
どれ - which (question word)
These demonstrative pronouns will always precede a particle.
これはおいしいですか？
Kore wa oishii desu ka?
Is it delicious?
それはだいじょうぶです。
Sore wa daijoubu desu.
This is okay.
あれはなんですか？
Are wa nan desu ka?
What is that over there?
The particle の
The particle の is rather straightforward in Japanese. We call it the label particle and it will sometimes behave like the possessive.
れいなのねこ
Reina no neko
Reina's cat
さゆみのへや
Sayumi no heya
Sayumi's room
ははのいえ
Haha no ie
My mother's house
It can also show the origin of something.
にほんのカメラ
Nihon no kamera
A camera from Japan
かんこくのたべもの
Kankoku no tabemono
Food from Korea (Korean food)
ちゅうごくのしな
Chuugoku no shina
Products from China
We will see the particle の in other instances that we will see soon.
Countries, people and languages
Here is a vocabulary bank of some countries! For people, we add じん (which means 'people') after the country, and for languages, we add ご (which means 'language').
にほん - Japan
にほんじん - Japanese (person)
にほんご - Japanese (language)
アメリカ - United States, America
アメリカじん - American
えいご - English
フランス - France
フランスじん - French (person)
フランスご - French (language)
ドイツ - Germany
ドイツじん - German (person)
ドイツご - German (language)
ちゅうごく - China
かんこく - Korea
タイこく - Thailand
ベトナム - Vietnam
アジア - Asia
イギリス - English
スペイン - Spain
イタリア - Italy
ロシア - Russia
ヨーロッパ - Europe
エジプト - Egypt
みなみアフリカ - South Africa
コンゴ - Congo
アフリカ - Africa
カナダ - Canada
メキシコ - Mexico
アルゼンチン - Argentina
ブラジル - Brazil
オーストラリア - Australia