これ / それ / あれ (Demonstrative Pronouns)

Level: N5. (JLPT publishes no official grammar list; level is the common textbook convention.) これ (kore), それ (sore) and あれ (are) are the first words you use to point at things in Japanese. Learn the small system behind them and you can say “this”, “that” and “that over there” without ever naming the object.

The rule

A pronoun is a word that stands in for a noun, so you can say “this” instead of “this book”. これ (kore), それ (sore), あれ (are) and どれ (dore) are demonstrative pronouns: they point at a thing and stand on their own.

The choice depends on distance from the two speakers:

• これ (kore) — the thing is near you, the speaker: これは本です (kore wa hon desu), “this is a book”.
• それ (sore) — the thing is near the listener: それは何ですか (sore wa nan desu ka), “what is that (by you)?”.
• あれ (are) — the thing is away from both of you: あれは駅です (are wa eki desu), “that over there is the station”.
• どれ (dore) — the question word, “which one?”: どれがあなたのですか (dore ga anata no desu ka), “which one is yours?”.

This is the こそあど (ko-so-a-do) system: こ (ko) is near the speaker, そ (so) near the listener, あ (a) far from both, ど (do) is the question. The same four prefixes build the words for “this/that + noun” and for places.

The こそあど (ko-so-a-do) table

This page is about the top row — the pronouns that stand alone. The second row (この (kono) / その (sono) / あの (ano)) must be followed by a noun, and the third row (ここ (koko) / そこ (soko) / あそこ (asoko)) points at places.

Example sentences

Each sentence was written for this lesson, with modified Hepburn romaji.

Common mistakes

• ❌ これ本です (kore hon desu) → ✅ これは本です (kore wa hon desu) or この本です (kono hon desu). これ (kore) cannot sit in front of a noun; mark it with は (wa), or use この (kono) + noun.
• ❌ これの本 (kore no hon) → ✅ この本 (kono hon). Don’t add の (no) to make これ (kore) describe a noun; the correct “this book” word is この (kono).
• ❌ あれは何ですか (are wa nan desu ka) for a thing by the listener → ✅ それは何ですか (sore wa nan desu ka). If it is near the person you are talking to, it is それ (sore), not あれ (are).
• ❌ どれは (dore wa) → ✅ どれが (dore ga). A “which?” question subject takes が (ga): どれがいいですか (dore ga ii desu ka).
• ❌ これです本 (kore desu hon) → ✅ これは本です (kore wa hon desu). です (desu) ends the sentence, so the noun comes before it.

A short conversation

— これは何ですか。(Kore wa nan desu ka.) — “What is this?” — それは辞書です。(Sore wa jisho desu.) — “That (by you) is a dictionary.” — あれも辞書ですか。(Are mo jisho desu ka.) — “Is that one over there a dictionary too?” — いいえ、あれは雑誌です。(Iie, are wa zasshi desu.) — “No, that over there is a magazine.”

Notice how the same object is これ (kore) to the person holding it and それ (sore) to the person across the table.

Usage notes

• Perspective can flip. The thing in your hand is これ (kore) to you but それ (sore) to the person you hand it to. Both are describing the same object from different circles.
• あれ (are) for shared knowledge. When you and the listener both already know something — a restaurant you both visited, a plan you discussed — you often use あれ (are): あれはよかったですね (are wa yokatta desu ne), “that was good, wasn’t it”.
• それ (sore) picks up what was just said. それは違います (sore wa chigaimasu), “that is wrong”, refers to the listener’s previous statement, not a physical object.
• Polite swaps. In formal speech people replace これ (kore) / それ (sore) / あれ (are) with こちら (kochira) / そちら (sochira) / あちら (achira) to sound softer, especially about people.

Compared with この (kono) and ここ (koko)

• この (kono) / その (sono) / あの (ano) use the same こそあど (ko-so-a-do) distances but must be followed by a noun: この本 (kono hon), “this book”. You cannot say この (kono) alone, and you cannot say これ本 (kore hon). See how they differ in the Japanese grammar section.
• ここ (koko) / そこ (soko) / あそこ (asoko) are the place words: ここ (koko) “here”, そこ (soko) “there by you”, あそこ (asoko) “over there”. Use them for locations, not objects. To mark any of these as the topic you still reach for は (wa), explained on the は (wa) topic-particle page. If you are brand new, begin with Start Learning Japanese Here.

Quick recap before the quiz.

Practice

Quiz

Recap cheat-sheet

Next

• Learn the matching noun words この (kono) / その (sono) / あの (ano) in the Japanese grammar section
• Mark your topic correctly with the は (wa) particle
• Build your reading with the complete hiragana chart