Words such as this and that are a bit more complicated in Japanese than in English, but they're still very easy to learn. This lesson will NOT use roumaji, because before you learn the language you should at least know the basic writing system first.

This/These - これ

That/Those - それ

That/Those over there - あれ

These are just basic, simple words for this and that. For example, you could say, "それは猫です" meaning, "That is a cat."

If you want to attach words to these, you must use a different set of words for this and that.

This/These __ - この __

That/Those __ - その __

That/Those over there - あの __


So, for example, if you wanted to say, "This pencil is yellow," you would say, "この鉛筆は黄色いです。"


Differences between それ/その and あれ/あの:

それ is used when talking about things that are in close proximity to you. For example, if you were talking about something that the person you were talking to was holding, you would use the word それ instead of あれ .

あれ is used when talking about things that are generally far away from you. You could use it for pointing at a building down the street, a cloud in the sky, or the piano at the other end of the room.


Differences between これ/この and such:

これ is only used when you don't attach it to another word. For example, saying "This is a book" would involve using これ. But if you want to attach a word to it, such as in saying "This book is old" you would use この instead.

These same rules apply to それ/その and あれ/あの.