Editing Japanese grammar (section)

===Demonstratives===
<div style="margin-left:2em; float:right">
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Demonstratives
!
! {{transliteration|ja|ko-}} !! {{transliteration|ja|so-}} !! {{transliteration|ja|a-}} !! {{transliteration|ja|do-}}
|-
! {{transliteration|ja|-re}}
| {{transliteration|ja|kore}}{{pb}}this one
| {{transliteration|ja|sore}}{{pb}}that one
| {{transliteration|ja|are}}{{pb}}that one over there
| {{transliteration|ja|dore}}{{pb}}which one?
|-
! {{transliteration|ja|-no}}
| {{transliteration|ja|kono}}{{pb}}(of) this
| {{transliteration|ja|sono}}{{pb}}(of) that
| {{transliteration|ja|ano}}{{pb}}(of) that over there
| {{transliteration|ja|dono}}{{pb}}(of) what?
|-
! {{transliteration|ja|-nna}}
| {{transliteration|ja|konna}}{{pb}}like this
| {{transliteration|ja|sonna}}{{pb}}like that
| {{transliteration|ja|anna}}{{pb}}like that over there
| {{transliteration|ja|donna}}{{pb}}what sort of?
|-
! {{transliteration|ja|-ko}}
| {{transliteration|ja|koko}}{{pb}}here
| {{transliteration|ja|soko}}{{pb}}there
| {{transliteration|ja|asoko}} <sup>1</sup>{{pb}}over there
| {{transliteration|ja|doko}}{{pb}}where?
|-
! {{transliteration|ja|-chira <sup>2</sup>}}
| {{transliteration|ja|kochira}}{{pb}}this way
| {{transliteration|ja|sochira}}{{pb}}that way
| {{transliteration|ja|achira}}{{pb}}that way over there
| {{transliteration|ja|dochira}}{{pb}}which way?
|-
! {{transliteration|ja|-u}} <sup>3</sup>
| {{transliteration|ja|kō}}{{pb}}in this manner
| {{transliteration|ja|sō}}{{pb}}in that manner
| {{transliteration|ja|ā}} <sup>1</sup>{{pb}}in that (other) manner
| {{transliteration|ja|dō}}{{pb}}how? in what manner?
|-
! {{transliteration|ja|-itsu}}
| {{transliteration|ja|koitsu}}{{pb}}this person
| {{transliteration|ja|soitsu}}{{pb}}that person
| {{transliteration|ja|aitsu}}{{pb}}that (other) person
| {{transliteration|ja|doitsu}}{{pb}}who?
|}
# irregular formation
# colloquially contracted to -cchi
# {{transliteration|ja|-ou}} is represented by {{transliteration|ja|-ō}}
</div>

[[Demonstrative]]s occur in the {{transliteration|ja|ko-}}, {{transliteration|ja|so-}}, and {{transliteration|ja|a-}} series. The {{transliteration|ja|ko-}} (proximal) series refers to things closer to the speaker than the hearer, the {{transliteration|ja|so-}} (medial) series for things closer to the hearer, and the {{transliteration|ja|a-}} (distal) series for things distant to both the speaker and the hearer. With {{transliteration|ja|do-}}, demonstratives turn into the corresponding interrogative form. Demonstratives can also be used to refer to people, for example

{{fs interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja
|「こちら は 林さん です。」
|"Kochira wa Hayashi-san desu."
|"This is Mr. Hayashi."}}

Demonstratives limit, and therefore precede, nouns; thus {{nihongo||この本|kono hon}} for "this/my book", and {{nihongo||その本|sono hon}} for "that/your book".

When demonstratives are used to refer to things not visible to the speaker or the hearer, or to (abstract) concepts, they fulfill a related but different [[Anaphora (linguistics)|anaphoric]] role. The anaphoric distals are used for shared information between the speaker and the listener.

{{fs interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja
|A： 先日、 札幌 に 行って 来ました。
|A: Senjitsu, Sapporo ni itte kimashita.
|A: I visited Sapporo recently.}}

{{fs interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja
|B： あそこ （＊そこ） は いつ 行って も いい 所 です ね。
|B: Asoko (*Soko) wa itsu itte mo ii tokoro desu ne.
|B: Yeah, that's a great place to visit whenever you go.}}

{{transliteration|ja|Soko}} instead of {{transliteration|ja|asoko}} would imply that B does not share this knowledge about Sapporo, which is inconsistent with the meaning of the sentence. The anaphoric medials are used to refer to experience or knowledge that is not shared between the speaker and listener.

{{fs interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja
|佐藤： 田中 と いう 人 が 昨日 死んだ ん だ って。
|Satō: Tanaka to iu hito ga kinō shinda n da tte...
|Sato: I heard that a man called Tanaka died yesterday...}}

{{fs interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja
|森： えっ、 本当？
|Mori: E', hontō?
|Mori: Oh, really?}}

{{fs interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja
|佐藤： だから、 その （＊あの） 人、 森さん の 昔 の 隣人 じゃ なかった っけ？
|Satō: Dakara, sono (*ano) hito, Mori-san no mukashi no rinjin ja nakatta kke?
|Sato: It's why I asked... wasn't he an old neighbour of yours?}}

Again, {{transliteration|ja|ano}} is inappropriate here because Sato does not (did not) know Tanaka personally. The [[Anatomical terms of location#Proximal and distal|proximal]] demonstratives do not have clear anaphoric uses. They can be used in situations where the distal series sound too disconnected:

{{fs interlinear|indent=3|lang=ja
|一体 何 です か、 これ （＊あれ） は
|Ittai nan desu ka, kore (*are) wa?
|What on earth is this?}}