Episode 4 · JLPT N5
How to Ask "What Is This?" and "Whose Is It?" in Japanese
何ですか・だれの
Ask whose a thing is and answer with the owner and の, with the three words Japanese uses for pointing: これ near me, それ near you, あれ over there.
Did you catch it?
Listen to the conversation first, with no text, the way the video plays it. Then answer.
Listen to Mori-sensei, Yuki, and Kenji sorting out things left behind in the classroom.
How does Mori-sensei ask who owns the item near him?
How does Kenji casually confirm the dictionary is his?
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.
- Mori
Oh — Yuki. Whose is this?
だれ (who) + の creates the question 'whose'. In conversation, Japanese often drops the topic marker は.
- Yuki
Huh? …Oh! That's mine!
それ is used because the item is near the listener (Mori-sensei). の replaces the noun: 'mine'.
- Mori
Here you are.
- Yuki
Thank you.
- Mori
Then, that dictionary over there?
- Yuki
Oh, that one's Kenji's, you know.
よ at the end shares new or helpful information with the listener: '..., you know!'
- Mori
Kenji's?
- Yuki
Kenji! That dictionary, yours?
- Kenji
…Oh. Yeah, mine.
ぼく is a casual first-person pronoun typically used by young men with close peers. の replaces the noun: 'mine'.
- Kenji
Sorry.
- Mori
Here you are. Well then, Yuki, Kenji, see you tomorrow.
- Kenji
…Thank you. Goodbye.
Words in this scene
単語Key vocabulary introduced in this conversation. Tap any item to view its dictionary or grammar page.
The lesson
What the video teaches, to read at your own pace.
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.
Hand it over, and the word changes
- 魚
- 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.
The same question to a friend and to a teacher
- これ、だれのですか
- Whose is this?to a student, from the teacher
- けんじくんの？
- Yours, Kenji?to a friend
- 私のです
- It's mine.to a teacher
- うん、ぼくの
- Yeah, mine.to a friend
In the scene you hear the same things said two ways, and it is not the same both times. The teacher asks Yuki これ、だれのですか. Whose is this? Yuki asks her friend Kenji the same thing, and between friends です and か fall away: けんじくんの？ The answers change in the same way. To her teacher, Yuki says 私のです. To his friend, Kenji says just うん、ぼくの. Learn the full form first. You can say it to anyone. The short one is for friends, and you will hear a lot of it.
Ask whose it is
- これ、だれのですか
- This, whose is it?
だれ means who. Add の, the joiner that puts two nouns together, and you are asking whose. In the scene the teacher holds up a notebook and asks これ、だれのですか. This, whose is it? You answer the same way: the owner, then の. 私のです. It's mine.
Words you will hear
- 辞書
- dictionarythe thing on the window sill
- うん
- yeahcasual yes, to a friend
- けんじくん
- Kenjiくん for a boy — さん works for anyone
- 〜よ
- …, you knowtelling them something they did not know
A few words you will hear in this scene. じしょ is a dictionary, the thing left on the window sill. うん is a casual yes, said to a friend where はい is said to a teacher. Everyone calls Kenji けんじくん. くん is used for a boy, where さん works for anyone. And Yuki puts よ on the end of けんじくんのですよ. It tells the teacher something he did not know.
Hand it over — the word changes
Which word you use depends on who is holding the item, not on what it is.
