Grammar Info

N5 Lesson 1: 5/12

これThis

Although uncommon, its kanji can be seen as 此れ

Structure

Demonstrative noun

Details

  • Part of Speech

    Noun

  • Word Type

    Pronoun

  • Register

    Standard

  • Rare Kanji

    此れ

About これ

これ is often thought to be equal to 'this' in English, which is basically correct. これ will always be used to highlight something that is close to the speaker either emotionally, or physically.

Despite being translated as a 'pronoun' in English, it might be easier to think of これ as a substitute noun (the literal meaning in Japanese), as this is always its function. これ substitutes for something that has its own name, but is not required in the context of the sentence, or is simply unknown by the speaker.

Examples

--:--

    これはペンです。

    This is a pen.

    これは本(ほん)です。

    This is a book.

    これは寿司(すし)です。

    This is sushi.

    これも寿司(すし)です。

    This is also sushi.

    これは、海(うみ)です。

    This is the sea.

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これ – Grammar Discussion

Most Recent Replies (4 in total)

  • Pep95

    Pep95

    I think if you were actually standing at/in the sea then yes. But the sentence これは海です is a bit broader, where it could also fit in a scenario where you are pointing at a picture or something.

  • Fach

    Fach

    これはステーキです。これはいいです。
    In this sentence, how would i know to replace which kore by “it”. Can I just say いいです?

  • Scyamntic

    Scyamntic

    Edit: lol I misread “steak” as 素敵(すてき)

    Ok breaking it down now that I’ve remembered how to read:

    これはステーキです = This thing is steak

    • abstract demonstrative, Imagine you were in a room full of Martians teaching them about what a steak is on a big PowerPoint slide

    これはいいです = This is good

    • value judgement about some “thing”

    If you are trying to say:

    “This is a good steak”

    • このステーキはいいです
    • これはいいステーキです

    The difference can be thought of as being:

    • This steak is good (leans towards judgment)
    • This (thing) is a good steak (leans towards description)

    I hope all that is relatively clear

    Now to your question, simply saying いいです in many cases indicates that you are “positively confirming”. This is the same as saying “dope”, “sounds good”, “that’s fine” etc in English.

    You are correct that you can drop t...

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