Like this:

Now with your basic knowledge of particles out of the way, let’s venture on with our Japanese. This time we have a new way to say “This, That and That over there”. However, what is different about この、その、あの　to　これ、それ、あれ is the sentence structure in which these “Demonstratives” appear.

The sentence structure, still follows a very basic pattern as before. However, the purpose of this new sentence structure is to change the conventional “This is a….” or “That is a…”. To allow the introduction of an adjective alongside the noun in question.

この　＝　This (Inside the speaker’s domain)

その　＝   That (Inside the listener’s domain)

あの　＝　That over there (Neither in the speaker or listener’s domain)

Therefore now we are saying “This…. is a…”, “This….is….”, “That..is…”, and etc etc.

We will put the demonstrative before the noun and then the adjective after the noun. (Note: There is no particle between the demonstrative and the noun).

Take this example:

あの　ひと　は　マイク　です。　(That person over there is Mike).

Do you see the structure? We basically have:

*Demonstrative**Noun**particle**adjective (or in this case the person’s name in question)**End*

Here are a lot more examples, I will give more complex examples towards the end.

この　くるま　は　カローラ　です。　(This car is a corolla).

その　いぬ　は　あきた　です。 (That dog is an akita)

この　たてもの　は　としょかん　です。 (This building is a library)

カフェテリア　は　あの　たてもの　です。　(Note: We took the adjective and put it to the front this time to say “The cafeteria is that building over there).

この　ほん　は　にほんご　の　ほん　です。 (This book is a Japanese book)

その　ほん　は　にほんご　の　ほん　です　か？ (Is that book a Japanese book?)

あの　ひと　は　やまださん　です　ね。 (New Particle: The particle “ne”, known as the “confirmation particle. It is the same as saying “That person is Ms. Yamada isn’t it?).

Just keep using examples, the change in structure will come to you. Make sure you remember to write down any new words you see or vocabulary.

I noticed I’ve written less than 50% than usual with this post. I was thinking of adding something else to end. However, I think I should stick to “One lesson per post”. I don’t want to force another 50% out and confuse things. On the flip side to this, the next lesson will come very shortly.

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