Minna No Nihongo Grammar Lesson 3

Minna No Nihongo Grammar Lesson 3

1.ここ / そこ / あそこ / こちら / そちら / あちら

• The demonstratives これ, それ and あれ that are discussed in Lesson 2 refer to a thing, while これ, それ and あれ refer to a place. ここ is the place where the speaker is, そこ the place where the listener is, あそこ is the place far from both the speaker and the listener.
• こちら, そちら and あちら are demonstratives refer to direction. こちら, そちら and あちら are also used to refer to location, in which case, they are politer than これ, それ and あれ.

[Note] When the speaker regards the listener as sharing his/her territory, the place where they both are is designated by the word ここ. Under this situation, そこ designated the place a little distant from the speaker and listener, and あそこ designates an even more distant location.

2. N₁ は  N₂ (place) です

Using this sentence pattern, you can explain where a place, a thing or a person is.

お手洗 い(おてあらい) は あそこです。

The rest room is there.

電話(でんわ) は ２階(かい)です。

The telephone is on the second floor.

Mr.Yamada is in the office.

3. どこ / どちら

• どこ means “where”, and どちら means “which direction”. どちら can also mean “where”. in which case it’s politer than どこ.

お手洗 い は   どこですか。

… あそこです。

Where’s the rest room?

…It’s there.

エレベーターは どちらですか。

… あちらです。

Where’s the elevator?

… It’s in that direction. (It’s there.)

• どこ or どちら is also used to ask the name of a country, company, school or any place or organization a person belongs to. You can not use なん (what).
• どちら is politer than どこ.

学校 (がっこう) は どこですか。

What’s the name of your school?

会社は どちらですか。

What company do you work for?

4. N₁ の N₂

• When N₁ is the name of a country and N₂ is a product, it means that N₂ is made in that country.
• When N₁ is the name of a company and N₂ is a product, it means that N₂ is made by that company.
• In this structure, どこ is used to ask where or by whom N₂ is made.

これは どこのコンピューターですか。

… 日本の コンピューターです。

… IMC の コンピューターです。

Where is this computer made?/ Who is the maker of this computer?

… It’s made in Japan.

… IMC is.

5. The こ / そ / あ / ど system of demonstrative words

	こ series	そ series	あ series	ど series
thing	これ	それ	あれ	どれ (L.8)
thing/person	この	その	あの	どのN (L.16)
place	ここ	そこ	あそこ	どこ
direction/place (polite)	こちら	そちら	あちら	どちら

6. お国 (おくに)

The prefix お is added to a word concerning the listener or a third person in order to express the speaker’s respect to the person.

[お]国は どちらですか。

Where are you from?

Related Post:
Minna No Nihongo Grammar Lesson 4
Minna No Nihongo Lesson 3 Vocabulary