Point at a thing
- これ
- this onenear me
- それ
- that onenear you
- あれ
- that one over thereaway from us both
Japanese has three words for pointing. これ is the thing near me. それ is the thing near you. あれ is a thing away from us both.
hanamaruEpisode 4 · JLPT N5
What Is It & Whose Is It
何ですか・だれの
Ask what a thing is and who it belongs to, with the three words Japanese uses for pointing: これ near me, それ near you, あれ over there.
Hanamaru Japanese on YouTube →
Did you catch it?
Listen to the conversation first, with no text, the way the video plays it. Then answer.
It is lunch break in the classroom, and Kenji has been half asleep all morning. He points at two things on the desks and asks Yuki what they are.
What does Kenji do with the fish?
The conversation 会話
Play any line again, or the whole scene. Tap a word to hear only that part. Hide the English to test yourself.
Oh — what's that, by you?
It's fish.
Oh! What's that over there?
It's a book.
This one's MY fish.
Hey! THAT'S my fish!
Mori
Kenji. What's that, by you?
It's a fish.
Mori
Whose fish?
…It's Yuki's.
…Sorry. Here, take it.
The lesson
What the video teaches, to read at your own pace.
Hand it over, and the word changes
- 魚
- the same fish
- これ
- in my hand
- それ
- in your hand
Which word you use depends on where the thing is, not on what it is. The fish in my hand is これ. I hand it to you, and the same fish is それ. Nothing about the fish changed. What changed is who is holding it.
Ask what something is
- これは何ですか
- What is this?
To ask what something is, you say 何ですか. The word for what is 何, and in front of です it is said 何. これは 何ですか. What is this? は comes after the thing you are asking about, the same は you use to say who you are. You answer with the thing and です. 魚です. It's a fish.
Ask whose it is
- だれの魚ですか
- Whose fish is it?
だれ means who. Add の, the joiner that puts two nouns together, and you are asking whose. だれの 魚ですか. Whose fish is it? You answer the same way: the owner, then の. ゆきさんのです. It's Yuki's.
Words you will hear
- ごめん
- Sorrycasual, to a friend
- 僕
- Iused by boys and men
- けんじくん
- Kenjiくん for a boy — さん works for anyone
Three words you will hear in this scene. ごめん is a casual sorry, said to a friend rather than to a teacher. 僕 is a word for I, used by boys and men. 私 is the one anyone can use. And the teacher calls Kenji けんじくん. くん is used for a boy, where さん works for anyone.