4.2 Demonstrative Pronouns: これ (kore), それ (sore), あれ (are) and どれ (dore)

When encountering an object whose name you don’t know, you can use the demonstrative pronouns これ (kore: this [one]), それ (sore: that [one]), あれ (are: that [one over there]) and どれ (dore: which [one]). Please use these demonstrative pronouns to indicate objects only, as it can come across as impolite if used to refer to people! For further details, refer to the final section of this module and Module 3.0.

Here is a summary of the demonstrative pronouns:

All the demonstrative pronouns are types of nouns. So, you can use them in the position of X in the following sentence patterns we have learned:

Finally, we have a demonstrative pronoun that is used in questions: ‘どれ’ (dore). It is used to ask which one out of a group of things.

どれ is not only a demonstrative pronoun but also a question word that means ‘which’ or ‘which one’. For example, you can use it in the following sentence pattern to ask about a specific item or choice:

 

For example, if there are multiple remote controls – リモート・コントロール（りもおと・こんとろおる）or リモコン（りもこん）for short – and you want to know which one is the remote control for the TV, you could ask:

 

 

テレビ（てれび）のリモコンはどれですか。

Terebi no rimokon wa dore desu ka.

Which one is the TV remote control?

 

Exercise 1

Try to say each sentence in Japanese. You can listen to the example sentence in Japanese by clicking the audio icon on the card.

What should I do when I want to refer to people with demonstrative nouns?

To refer to people with demonstrative nouns in Japanese politely, use こちら (kochira), そちら (sochira), あちら (achira) and どちら (dochira) instead of これ, それ, あれ and どれ. These forms are more respectful and appropriate for formal situations.

 

For example to say ‘This is my teacher’ politely, you would say:

こちらは私（わたし）の先生（せんせい）です。

Kochira wa watashi no sensei desu.

This construction respectfully indicates the person you are introducing.

For your reference, these demonstrative pronouns, こちら, そちら, あちら and どちら, are also used to refer to places with politeness, such as ‘here’, ‘there’, ‘over there’ and ‘where’. In the meanwhile, it’s sufficient to know that これ, それ, あれ and どれ should be used only to refer to objects, not people, to maintain politeness.