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Study in the app →Japanese · JLPT Band 1 (N5) · Chapter 6
これは なんですか What is this?
Words that point at things: kore (near me), sore (near you), are (far from both). The question word is nani, becoming nan before desu: Kore wa nan desu ka. New words: book, clock, bag, flower. Kana: the small っ (sokuon) — a held consonant with a beat of silence.
Dialogue
これは なんですか — What Is This?
- Mike これは なんです。 What is this. (mistake: forgot the final ka)
- Yuki 「これは なんですか」ですよ。それは とけいです。 It's "Kore wa nan desu ka". That is a clock.
- Mike あ、か を わすれました。あれは なんですか。 Ah, I forgot the ka. What is that over there?
- Yuki あれは はなです。おおきい はなです。 That is a flower. It's a big flower.
Dialogue
それは わたしの かばんです — That Is My Bag
- Ken マイクさん、それは なんですか。 Mike, what is that?
- Mike これは わたしの かばんです。 This is my bag.
- Ken あの ほんも マイクさんのですか。 Is that book over there also yours, Mike?
- Mike いいえ、あれは ゆきさんの ほんです。 No, that one is Yuki's book.
Vocabulary
| 汉字 | Pinyin | POS | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| これ | kore | pron. | this (thing, near me) |
| それ | sore | pron. | that (thing, near you) |
| あれ | are | pron. | that over there |
| この | kono | det. | this (+ noun) |
| その | sono | det. | that (+ noun) |
| あの | ano | det. | that over there (+ noun) |
| なん | nan | pron. | what (before desu) |
| ほん | hon | n. | book |
| とけい | tokei | n. | clock, watch |
| かばん | kaban | n. | bag |
| はな | hana | n. | flower |
Grammar
こそあど — これ / それ / あれ kosoado — kore / sore / are (things)
ものを さししめす ことばは、きょりで かわります: 「これ」は じぶんの ちかく、「それ」は あいての ちかく、「あれ」は どちらからも とおい もの。これらは それじたいで めいしの ように つかえます: 「これは ほんです」。「なに」（なん）で「なんですか」と たずねます。えいごの "this/that" は ふたつだけですが、にほんごは みっつ ある ことに ちゅうい。
Words that point at things change with distance: kore = near me, sore = near you (the listener), are = far from both of us. They work on their own like nouns: Kore wa hon desu (This is a book). Ask with nani (→ nan): Kore wa nan desu ka. Note that English has only two (this/that) but Japanese has three.
- これは なんですか。— それは ほんです。 Kore wa nan desu ka. — Sore wa hon desu. What is this? — That is a book.
- あれは とけいです。 Are wa tokei desu. That over there is a clock.
- それは わたしの かばんです。 Sore wa watashi no kaban desu. That is my bag.
kana
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