"This" or "That" in Japanese?

Question

This is a rather semantic question of I'm sure no great importance, but in a situation where you are pointing to something which is in a glass cabinet in from of you (in a shop, say), would "kore" or "sore" be more natural to refer to it? Or is either fine?
In English, either would sound fine, but I don't know whether this might be an idiomatic thing that doesn't hold in Japanese.

Gordon · Answer

kore/sore translates roughly into this/that, but you know that isn't 100%.

Exactly as Duffy says, the use of those words depends on the spacial relationship between the speaker and the listener and the object, whereas in english this/that depends solely on the object's relation to the speaker.

kore=closer to speaker than listener
sore=closer to listener than speaker

So, if there is no listener, you would think "kore" because the nearest listener is in another room.  But if a listener is present, then you must consider their position to the object relative to your own.

A · Answer

Either is fine but if you really want to be specific
kore-the object is closer to you but far from the listener
sore-the object is far from you but closer to the listener

Hope it helps:)

Red · Answer

Kore -> This (near the speaker)
Sore -> That (away from the speaker, near the listener)
Are -> That (away from both)
Dore -> Which?

In my opinion 'are' would be good too?

Anonymous · Answer

Sore

? · Answer

its fine, thats a universal language trait.

"This" or "That" in Japanese?

5 Answers