This, That and Over There: The Japanese こ・そ・あ・ど System

Japanese demonstratives are among the neatest patterns in the language: four groups with the same first sounds, applied to things, places, directions and more.

The four groups

Group	Meaning	Prefix
こ (ko)	near the speaker	this
そ (so)	near the listener	that
あ (a)	far from both	that over there
ど (do)	question	which

Things

	Pronoun	Meaning
これ (kore)	this one	near me
それ (sore)	that one	near you
あれ (are)	that one over there	far from both
どれ (dore)	which one

• これは本です。 — This is a book.
• それは何ですか。 — What is that (near you)?
• どれがいいですか。 — Which one is good?

Before a noun

	Word	Example
この	this ...	この本 — this book
その	that ...	その本 — that book
あの	that ... over there	あの人 — that person
どの	which ...	どの本 — which book

Places

	Word	Meaning
ここ (koko)	here
そこ (soko)	there (near you)
あそこ (asoko)	over there
どこ (doko)	where

• ここは学校です。 — This is a school.
• トイレはあそこです。 — The toilet is over there.

Directions

こちら (kochira), そちら (sochira), あちら (achira) and どちら (dochira) mean "this way", "that way" and so on, and are also polite versions of "this person" and "where":

• こちらは田中さんです。 — This is Mr Tanaka.
• どちらから来ましたか。 — Where are you from? (polite)

Kinds of things

• こんな — this kind of
• そんな — that kind of
• あんな — that kind of (far)
• どんな — what kind of

Referring to conversation

それ and その can point to something the listener just said: それはいいですね。 — That's nice, isn't it.

Tips

1. See the pattern: ko / so / a / do.
2. Learn これ・それ・あれ・どれ first.
3. Use the dictionary to check readings.

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