Asking where something is in Japanese

Level A1

Asking where something is in Japanese

You're looking for a book in a room, and someone just points. You don't need words like "on" or "next to" for that. In this lesson you ask where something is and answer with three place words and a gesture.

Warm-up: naming things and asking again

You'll need a few things you may already know. これは何ですか (kore wa nan desu ka) asks "What is this?", and 本です (hon desu) answers "It's a book." The は marks what you're talking about and is read wa here, and the か at the end makes a polite question. If you miss something, すみません、もう一度お願いします (sumimasen, mō ichido onegai shimasu) asks the person to say it again.

  • formal

    これは何(なん)ですか？

    What is this?

  • formal

    本(ほん)です。

    It's a book.

  • formal

    すみません、もう一度(いちど)お願(ねが)いします。

    Pardon?

The words you need

どこ (doko) asks "where". ここ (koko) is "here" and そこ (soko) "there". A third place word, あそこ (asoko, "over there"), is listed on the card for そこ, and you'll learn to use it in this lesson. The objects are 本 (hon, book), 机 (tsukue, desk) and 椅子 (isu, chair).

Model: looking for a book

Listen once without reading, and picture two people in a room, each pointing while they talk. The book is near the first speaker and the chair is far from both. Notice the first speaker's ここですか (koko desu ka, "here?") and the reply はい、そこです (hai, soko desu, "yes, there"): same spot, different word.

Three places, by who is near

ここ is the place near the speaker, そこ the place near the listener, and あそこ a place far from both. English "there" covers both そこ and あそこ, so before you choose, ask yourself who is closer. これ (kore) points at a thing and ここ at a place; それ (sore) goes with そこ, and あれ (are) with あそこ, in the same way.

ここ／そこ／あそこです

Question and answer share one frame

本はどこですか (hon wa doko desu ka) means "Where is the book?" To answer, keep the frame, put a place word where どこ was and drop か: 本はここです (hon wa koko desu). Once everyone knows you mean the book, ここです (koko desu) is enough, with no word for "it" and no "the". Here です does the job of "is" for a place. Your hand replaces "on the desk" or "next to the door": this lesson doesn't use those words. Saying that something exists in a place takes another construction, which comes in a later lesson.

〜はどこ／ここ／そこ／あそこです（か）

Here for me, there for you

The word depends on who is talking. If the book is next to you and someone asks 本はそこですか (hon wa soko desu ka, "Is the book there?"), you answer はい、ここです (hai, koko desu, "Yes, it's here"). When two people stand side by side, the place around them both is ここ, そこ is a little way off and あそこ is further still. So before you answer, look at where the thing is and where the other person is.

Your turn

Try this with a friend, or play both parts. Cover the lines below and ask where the desk is. When the answer comes back as そこです (soko desu, "it's there"), pretend you didn't catch it, ask again and say thank you. Then swap in 本 or 椅子 and point somewhere else.

Summary, and your first trip to the World section

Ask with 〜はどこですか and answer with ここ, そこ or あそこ, pointing as you speak: near you, near the listener, far from both. You can now name a thing and say where it is: これは何ですか, 本です, 本はここです.

You can start exploring now: in the World section, listen to a word, check its reading and try it with …です. Go back to the audio whenever you need to; you don't have to finish A1 first.

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