Grammar Notes 5

1: Prenominals

この, その, あの, and どの are prenominal forms of the demonstrative pronouns これ, それ, あれ, and どれ, respectively. In other words, these forms are used only to modify a noun and cannot stand alone as nouns by themselves. An * below marks ungrammatical combinations.

Prenominal	Noun
この	へや	はわ	あかるいですね。	This room is bright.
その	バス	はわ	べんりですね。	That bus (near you) is convenient.
あの	へや	はわ	きれいですね。	That room (over there) is pretty.
どの	くるま		ですか。	Which car is it?
* この		はわ	くるまです。	[ungrammatical]
* その		はわ	くるまです。	[ungrammatical]
* あの		はわ	くるまです。	[ungrammatical]
* どの		はわ	くるまですか。	[ungrammatical]

Note that a prenominal demonstrative can be followed by an adjective or a noun + の phrase before the noun. For example: この [せが たかい] 人 and あの [日本人の] せんせい.

modifies

this tall person

modifies

that Japanese teacher

その can also be used to refer to something/someone that is mentioned in the previous sentence as shown below.

A:	よしださんの せんこうは えいごです。	Ms. Yoshida's major is English.
B:	その人は日本人(にほんじん) ですか。	Is that person (= he/she) Japanese?

どの is the prenominal question word which means which. To ask which one X is, you can use the pattern XはわどのNですか as shown below. Compare this with another question word どれ which means Which one. どの and どれ are not interchangeable. どの is a prenominal form and cannot become a noun by itself while どれ is a noun by itself.

	Xはわ	どのNoun	ですか
A:	田中さんの車(くるま)はわ	どの車	ですか。	Which car is Mr. Tanaka's car?
B:		あの車	です。	It's that car.
A:	ぎんこうは	どのたてもの	ですか。	Which building is the bank?
B:		あのたてもの	です。	It's that building.
	Xはわ	どれ	ですか
Q:	田中さんの車は	どれ	ですか。	Which one is Mr. Tanaka's car?
	* 田中さんの車は	どの	ですか。	[Ungrammatical]

The demonstrative pronouns (これ, それ, あれ and どれ) we learned in Lesson 4 cannot be used to modify a noun. This fact makes all of the following ungrammatical.

* これ コンピュータ	[Ungrammatical]
* それバス	[Ungrammatical]
* あれトラック	[Ungrammatical]
* どれ車	[Ungrammatical]

2: Pronoun: X

The pronoun の (“one”) is used to substitute for a previously mentioned noun—typically (but not exclusively) referring to objects rather than people—to create a shorter expression. For example, in English, “a white car” can be shortened to “a white one.” The same type of substitution can be done in Japanese using の.

あたらしい	コンピュータ	→	あたらしい	の	new one
むずかしい	本 ( ほん )	→	むずかしい	の	difficult one
しろい	車 ( くるま )	→	しろい	の	white one
ひまな	人 ( ひと )	→	ひまな	の	one who is not busy

For example:

あの しろい

のは

としょかん

です。

That white one is a library.

With the /Nounの + Noun/ construction, the particle の and the pronoun の are merged into one の.

きのうの	コーヒー	→	きのう	の	yesterday's (one)
きょねんの	車 ( くるま )	→	きょねん	の	last year's (one)

The /Personの + Noun/ construction commonly refers to something owned by the person (person's Noun), and this can be shortened to Personの (person's).

A:	あれは	だれのかばんですか。	Whose bag is that?
B:		わたしのです。	It's mine.

The following combinations (on the left) are ungrammatical. The correct form is written on the right.

*	この の [Ungrammatical]	→	これ (this one)
*	その の [Ungrammatical]	→	それ (that one near you)
*	あの の [Ungrammatical]	→	あれ (that one far away)
*	どの の [Ungrammatical]	→	どれ (which one?)

3: Particles

There are two ways to ask Which person is Mike? (1) マイクさんはわ どの 人 ( ひと ) ですか and (2) どの人が マイクさんですか. Sentence 1 has the particle はわ(topic marker) while Sentence 2 has the particle が (subject marker). はわmarks something as a known topic that is previously introduced into the conversation or assumed to be known while が marks something as unknown or new in the conversation. Because of this difference, が can follow a question word (e.g., どの人が )but はわcannot.

	Knownはわ	Unknown/Newです
A:	マイクさんは	どの人ですか。
	As for Mike	which person is it?
B:	マイクさんは	あの人です。
	Mike	is that person.
or		あの人です。
	(It)	is that person.

	Unknown/Newが	Knownです
A:	どの人が	マイクさんですか。
	Which person	is Mike?
B:	あの人が	マイクさんです。
	That person	is Mike.
or	あの人	です。
	That person	is.

In the following example, A seeks new information with どの人が, and B provides that information with しろいＴシャツの人が. When A refers to the same person again, A switches to はわ.

A:	どの 人 ( ひと ) が アリスさんですか。	Which person is Alice?
B:	しろいＴシャツの人が アリスさんです。	The person with a white T-shirt is Alice.
A:	その人は アメリカ人ですか。	Is she American?
B:	はい、そうです。	Yes, that's right.

In other words, はわfunctions to keep the same topic while が introduces new information. Compare the following conversations. New information is in red. Known information is in boldface.

A:	あの人はマイクさんですか。	Is that person Mike?
B:	いいえ、あの人はジョンさんです。	No, he is John.
A:	あおいシャツの人がマイクさんですか。	Is the person with a blue shirt Mike?
B:	いいえ、しろいシャツの人がマイクさんです。	No, the person with a white shirt is Mike.

4:

The adjective たかい means “high” or “expensive,” depending on context. When describing a person’s height, Japanese does not use たかい by itself. Instead, a fixed expression is used: せが たかい (“tall”) or せが ひくい (“short” in height). In this way, a single Japanese adjective may correspond to different adjectives in English depending on how it is used. By adding いちばん before an adjective, you can form a superlative expression meaning “the most …” or “the least ….” For example, いちばん たかい means “the most expensive,” and いちばん やすい 車 means “the cheapest car.”

1.	あの人は せが たかいですね。	That person is tall.
2.	あのビルは たかいですね。	That building is tall.
3.	この 車 ( くるま ) は たかいですね。	This car is expensive.
4.	いちばん大きいのは アメリカの車です。	The largest one is an American car.
5.	あの車が いちばん やすいです。	That car is the cheapest.
6.	アメリカの車が いちばん 大きいです。	American cars are the largest.

Note that Sentences 5 and 6 above use が which marks あの 車 ( くるま ) and アメリカの車 as the newly introduced information in conversation. If あの車 and アメリカの車 are previously introduced in conversation, these should be marked by はわinstead as in あの車は～ and アメリカの車は～, respectively.

5: Question Words

We learned the /だれの + Noun/ pattern (Whose N?) in L.4. In general, the question word だれ (Who?) refers to a person and works like another question word どれ (Which one?).

A: あの 人 ( ひと ) は だれですか。 Who is that person? B: あの人は すずきせんせいです。 He/She is Professor Suzuki. A: そのかばんは だれの かばんですか。 Whose bag is that bag? B: どれですか。 Which one (do you mean)? A: その みどりの かばんです。 That green bag. B: それは スミスさんのですよ。 That's Mr. Smith's. A: たなかさんのは どれですか。 Which one is Ms. Tanaka's? B: あれですよ。あの あかいのです。 It's that one. That red one.

6: Demonstrative Pronouns

The demonstrative pronouns (ここ, そこ, あそこ, どこ) refer to specific locations near or far from the speaker and/or listener.

ここ	here (near me)	this place
そこ	there (near you)	that place (near you)
あそこ	over there (far away)	that place far away
どこ	where	which place

The copula です can be used in the sense of something/someone is located as shown below.

	Xはわ	Locationです
A:	がくせいかいかんは	どこですか。	Where is Student Center?
B:	(がくせいかいかんは)	あそこです。	(It) is over there.
A:	ブラウンさんは	どこですか。	Where is Ms. Brown?
B:	(ブラウンさんは)	にほんです。	(She) is in Japan.

Earlier, we learned the structure /XはわYです/ (X is Y). If Y refers to a place, this structure can be used to state the location of someone or something: X is located in Y. For example, わたしは マクドナルドです can mean I'm at McDonald's (restaurant) as in Figure 1 or I am McDonald as in Figure 2.

Figure 1		Figure 2

7: Location

We now introduce a verb sentence with the verb あります. In Japanese, the verb comes at the end of a sentence. あります means that an inanimate object is located somewhere. The previously introduced particle distinction between はわand が works with verb sentences as well.

In the /Locationに Xが あります/ pattern, the speaker focuses on WHAT is located in a given place. In this pattern, the particle が marks X as something new/unknown. The particle に is a location marker similar to English preposition in or at. The topic marker はわcan be optionally inserted after に as in りょうには～ if the dormitory is already established as a known location/topic.

Type 1	Locationに	Subjectが	あります
A1:	りょうに	なにが	ありますか。	What is in the dorm?
B1:		キッチンが	あります。	A kitchen is there.
		キッチン	です。	A kitchen is.

Note that the particle が is dropped after キッチン.

In the /XはわLocationに あります/ pattern, the speaker focuses on WHERE X is located. In this pattern, the particle はわmarks X as the information previously introduced in conversation.

Type 2	Topicはわ	Locationに	あります
A2:	トイレは	どこに	ありますか。	Where is the toilet?
B2:		にかいに	あります。	It is on the second floor.
		にかい	です。	It's on the second floor.

Note that the particle に is dropped in the short version.

The verb あります can also be used to refer to an abstract existence of something instead of physical objects as in しつもんがあります (I have a question).

A: しつもんが ありますか。　Do you have any questions?
B: いいえ、ありません。　No, I don't.

8: Flexible Word Order

In English, a word’s grammatical role is largely determined by word order, typically following the pattern Subject + Verb + Object. In Japanese, by contrast, grammatical roles are indicated primarily by particles, not by word order. Although Japanese has a preferred sentence order (for example, the topic often appears at the beginning), noun phrases (a noun plus its particle) can be rearranged as units within the sentence, as long as the verb remains at the end. As a result, the following pairs of sentences have the same basic meaning, with only a slight difference in emphasis.

1.	りょうに　カフェテリアが　あります。 ＝ カフェテリアが　りょうに　あります。
2.	D.C.に　ホワイトハウスが　あります。 ＝ ホワイトハウスが　D.C.に　あります。
3.	わたしのへやに　おふろが　あります。 ＝ おふろが　わたしのへやに　あります。
4.	りょうに　なにが　ありますか。 ＝ なにが　りょうに　ありますか。
5.	カフェテリアは　どこに　ありますか。 ＝ どこに　カフェテリアは　ありますか。

9: Location

To say an animate object is located somewhere, we use the verb います instead of あります. Inanimate objects that move around (e.g., trains, buses and taxis) are also referred to by います. The はわ／が distinction works with this sentence pattern as well. In the /Locationに Ｘが います/ pattern below, the speaker focuses on WHO is located at a given location.

Type 1	Locationに	Subjectが	います
A1:	がっこうに	だれが	いますか。	Who is (located) at school?
B1:		スミスさんが	います。	Ms. Smith is (located) at school.
		スミスさん	です。	She is at school. (short version)

In the /XはわLocationに います/ pattern below,　the speaker focuses on WHERE someone is located.

Type 2	Topicはわ	Locationに	います
A3:	スミスさんは	どこに	いますか。	Where is Ms. Smith? (I know she is here somewhere.)
B3:		がっこうに	います。	She's at school.
		がっこう	です。	She's at school.

To state where someone lives, we use the verb expression すんでいます as shown below.

A: スミスさんは どこに すんでいますか。　Where do you live, Ms. Smith?
B: りょうに すんでいます。　I live in the dorm.

10: X

When you respond to a Yes-No question with a negative answer such as Is your brother at home?---No, he is not, you are not only negating the current location of your brother but also implying you have a brother and he is located somewhere else. Negative answers like these always have an implied contrast between what is negated and what is not negated. When responding to a Yes-No question negatively, Japanese often makes this notion of contrast explicit by using the particle はわas shown below. Note that はわreplaces the subject particle が, but はわis added to the location particle に. When はわfunctions to mark a contrast, it is also referred to as the contrast particle.

Q:		りょうに	キッチンがありますか。	Is there a kitchen in the dorm?
A:	いいえ、		キッチンはありません。	No, there isn't one. (There may be other things.)
Q:		たなかさんは	りょうに いますか。	Is Ms. Tanaka in the dorm?
A:	いいえ、		りょうには いません。	No, she is not there. (She may be at somewhere else.)

11: Negative Questions

In Dialogue 5, we saw an example of a negative question. Japanese and English speakers respond to negative questions in different ways, as shown below.

A:	この ちかくに ぎんこうは ありませんか。	There isn't a bank nearby, is there? (Lit. There isn't a bank nearby, I suppose.)
B:	ええ、ありませんねえ。	No, there isn't. (Lit. Correct. There isn't one.)

The question ぎんこうは ありませんか is a negative question. Speaker A assumes that there is no bank nearby. Speaker B’s response ええ shows agreement with that assumption, not a simple factual “yes.” In Japanese, ええ／はい often means “That’s right” or “I agree.”

If A's assumption is incorrect, B should respond いいえ、あります (Incorrect. Actually, there is.). Thus, いいえ expresses a disagreement with the speaker A's assumption.

A:	この ちかくに ぎんこうは ありませんか。	There isn't a bank nearby, is there? (Lit. There isn't a bank nearby, I suppose.)
B:	いいえ、ありますよ。	Yes, there is. (Lit. Incorrect, there actually is one.)

Mental shortcut: はい: That's right/Correct. いいえ: That's wrong/Incorrect.

✏ Negative questions in Japanese often function as a politeness strategy. By framing the question with an expectation that the answer may be “no,” the speaker reduces the psychological burden on the listener, making it easier and more socially comfortable to deliver unfavorable information or a negative response.

12: Demonstrative Pronouns

A group of demonstrative pronouns (こちら, そちら, あちら, and どちら) refers to directions with regards to the relative positions of the speaker and listener. FYI: These expressions are optionally combined with のほう the side/direction of... as in そちらのほう the general direction toward you. The combined expressions (e.g., そちらのほう) sound less precise than the simple expressions (e.g., そちら).

こちら(のほう)	this way toward me
そちら(のほう)	that way toward you
あちら(のほう)	that way away from us
どちら(のほう)	which way / which

13: Position Words

Position words such as まえ, うしろ, こちら, and むこう are often used together with building names. In these expressions, the building name comes first, followed by the position word, to mean “[the position] of [the building]” or “the building’s location.”

病院 ( びょういん ) の まえ うしろ front of the hospital back of the hospital 病院の こちら むこう this side of the hospital the other side of hospital 病院の みぎ ひだり right of the hospital left of the hospital 病院の となり next door to the hospital 病院の よこ side of the hospital 病院の ちかく そば きんじょ place near the hospital 病院の なか そと inside of the hospital outside of the hospital 病院の うえ した above/on the hospital underneath the hospital
Both むこう (far side) and こちら (near side) refer to the location relative to the location of the speaker.　X marks the location of　the speaker in the picture above.

When you want to focus on WHERE something is located, use the following pattern, in which the item is marked as the topic: としょかんは、びょういんの となりに あります。

Question Forms	Answer Forms
としょかんは どこに ありますか。 としょかんは どこですか。	としょかんは びょういんの となりに あります。　 としょかんは びょういんの となり です。
Where is the library?	It is located next to the hospital.
スタジアムは どこに ありますか。 スタジアムは どこですか。	えきの むこうに あります。 えきの むこうです。
Where is the stadium?	It's the far/other side of the station.

In contrast, when you want to focus on WHAT exists in a particular location, use a pattern in which the location comes first:

Locationに	Objectが	Verb
びょういんのうしろに	スタジアムが	あります。	A stadium is behind the hospital.
えきのまえに	こうえんが	あります。	A park is in front of the station.
びょういんのとなりに	としょかんが	あります。	A library is next to the hospital.
びょういんのみぎに	えきが	あります。	A station is on the right of the hospital.
びょういんのよこに	バスが	います。	A bus is at the side of the hospital.

To focus on the identity of something associated with a given location, the following pattern can be used. This is a familiar identity question Xは なんですか.

	Locationはわ	なん	です（か）
A:	えきのうしろは	なん	ですか。	What is the building behind the station?
B:		スタジアム	です。	It's a stadium.

Select the appropriate answer to each of the questions below:

1. としょかんは どこに ありますか。		A. がくせいかいかんです。
2. としょかんの となりに なにが ありますか。		B. がくせいかいかんの となりです。

The answer: 1 → B; 2 → A.

14:

Compare the following structures and pay close attention to how the meaning changes depending on word order. Note that the Japanese patterns below may appear to be the reverse of English word order, but the meaning is determined by structure, not by translation.

Buildingの	Loc.	vs.	Loc.の	Building
へやの	どこ		どこの	へや
Where in the room?			Which room? (= どのへや)

A:	ベッドは へやの どこに ありますか。	Where in the room is the bed?
B:	へやの みぎに あります。	It's on the right side of the room.
A:	田中さんのへやは どこの へや ですか。	Which room is Mr. Tanaka's room?
B:	２かいの へやです。	It's the room on the second floor.