こそあど (これ・この・ここ・こちら…): this / that / that over there / which: the whole family

Japanese points at things with four sets of words that start with こ (near me), そ (near you), あ (over there, far from both of us) and ど (which?).

<table class="kso"><tr><th></th><th>こ near me</th><th>そ near you</th><th>あ over there</th><th>ど which?</th></tr><tr><td>thing (alone)</td><td>これ</td><td>それ</td><td>あれ</td><td>どれ</td></tr><tr><td>+ noun</td><td>この</td><td>その</td><td>あの</td><td>どの</td></tr><tr><td>place</td><td>ここ</td><td>そこ</td><td>あそこ</td><td>どこ</td></tr><tr><td>direction (polite)</td><td>こちら</td><td>そちら</td><td>あちら</td><td>どちら</td></tr></table>この・その・あの・どの always come before a noun: あの人 "that person", この本 "this book". これ・それ・あれ・どれ stand alone. In stories, あの and その also point back to something both people already know.