Kore, Sore and Are"This & That"
There are three Japanese words for "this" and "that". Kore means "this". Sore and are mean "that".
The usage of kore, sore and are is as follows;
| Kore | indicates a thing or things near the speaker. |
| Sore | indicates a thing or things near the listener. |
| Are | indicates a thing or things far from both, speaker and listener. |
Singulars and Plurals
With the exception of some words, Japanese nouns generally do not take a plural form. Kore can be "this" or "these", for instance, Kore wa hon desu can be "This is a book" or "These are books". Also Kore wa wain desu can be "This is a glass of wine" or "This is a bottle of wine".
Nan desu ka?
Nan is an interrogative word "what". "What is this?" is Kore wa nan desu ka?.
Chotto misete kudasai
Misemasu is a verb meaning "to show", and misete kudasai is a set phrase meaning "please show me" or "may I see it".
Chotto means "a little" or "just". This word is frequently added to the beginning of a sentence in order to soften one's statement such as a request.
No - Furansu no wain"French wine"
No is a particle and indicates an attribute or belonging. When a noun modifies another noun, no comes between them.
| a. | Nihon no wain |
| Japanese wine (i.e. wine from Japan) |
| b. | Suzuki-san wa Nihongo no sensei desu. |
| Suzuki-san is a Japanese (language) teacher (i.e. a teacher of the Japanese language). |