Minna no Nihongo - Lesson 3!

Hello!

Sorry for the late update, unfortunately I have a lot going on in my work life that keeps getting in the way of studying - not a good excuse I know, I will try and keep my focus!

So lesson 3 is more about here, there, that over there - but with a place not a thing.

Starting off with the vocab! Remember, it is always useful to write words out and sound them out as you write.

Here we have a standard plan of a Japanese Department store

Time for the grammar!

1: ここ／そこ／あそこ／こちら／そちら／あちら
    The demonstratives これ, それ, あれ that are discussed in Lesson 2 refer to a thing, while ここ, そこ, あそこ refer to a place. ここ is the place the speaker is, そこ is the place where the listener is, and あそこ is the place far from both the speaker and the listener.
       こちら, そちら and あちら are demonstrative words referring to direction. こちら, そちら and あちら are also used to refer to location, in which case they are even poilter than ここ, そこ and あそこ.

   [Note] When the speaker regards the listener as sharing his/her territory, the place where they both are is designated by the word ここ. Under this siutation, そこ designates as the place a little distant from the speaker and listener, and あそこ designates an even more distant location.

2: N1 は N2(place) です
    Using the sentence pattern, you can explain where a place, a thing or a person is.
    
     お手洗(てあら)い は あそこです。                      The rest room is there.
     電話(でんわ) は 2階(かい) です。                          The telephone is on the second floor.
     山田(やまだ)さん は 事務所(じむしょ) です。           Mr Yamada is in the office.

3: どこ／どちら
    どこ means "where", and どちら means "which direction". どちら can also mean "where", in which case it's politer than どこ.
   
     お手洗い(てあら) は どこですか。               Where's the rest room?
      ・・・ あそこです。                             ・・・It's there.

     エレべーター は どちらですか。      Where's the elevator?
     ・・・あちらです。                                ・・・It's in that direction. (It's there.)

どこ or どちら is also used to ask the name of a country, company, school or any place or organisation a person belongs to. You cannot use なん(what). どちら  is poter than どこ.

   学校(がっこう)は どこですか。                  What's the name of your school?
   会社(かいしゃ)は どしらですか。              What company do you work for?

4: N1 の N2

     When N1 is the name of a country and N2 is a product, it means that N2 is made in that country. When N1 is the name of a company and N2 is a product, it means that N2 is made by that company. In this structure, どこ is used to ask where or by whom N2 is made.

      これは どこ の コンピューター ですか。    
      ・・・日本(にほん) の コンピューターです。
      ・・・IMC の コンピューター です。

       Where is this computer made? / Who is the maker of this computer?
       ・・・It's made in Japan.
       ・・・ IMC is.

5: お国(くに)

    The prefix お is added to a word concerning the listener or a third person in order to express the speaker's respect to the person.
   
    [お] 国(くに) は どちらですか。              Where are you from?



There you have it! Lesson 3 done!