LESSON 47- Is it here?
In the previous lesson, you learned about the particle ni wa. While you can use it to say the location of objects, you can also use ni for that. For example, the sentence Shinshitsu ni wa neko ga imasu means "There is a cat in the bedroom" while the sentence Neko wa shinshitsu ni imasu means "The cat is in the bedroom." Learn these two sentence patterns and be able to differentiate between the two! If you don't, you will be very confused.
A long time ago, you learned the word doko, meaning where. Now, recall the pronouns kore, sore, are, and dore. Doko is part of a new line of nouns very similar to these four pronouns. Koko means here, soko means there, and asoko means over there. These words can be used just like any other place you have learned thus far.
Let's use a little sample conversation. This one is between Tatsuya and Tomo.
Tatsuya: Tomo kun, konban wa.
Tomo: Konban wa. Boku no hon o mimashita ka.
Tatsuya: Iie, gomen ne. Doko de mimashita ka.
Tomo: Ima de mimashita. Shinshitsu mo mimashita.
Tatsuya: Sou desu ka.
Tomo: Doko ni arimasu ka.
Tatsuya: Soko ni arimasu ka.
Tomo: Iie... soko mo mimashita.
Tatsuya: Aa! Koko ni arimasu!
Tomo: Sou desu ka. Arigatou gozaimasu, Tatsuya kun.
Tatsuya: Iie! Sore dewa, itte mairimasu.
Tomo: Itte irasshai.
Tatsuya and Tomo begin by greeting each other and Tomo asks, "Did you see my book?" Tatsuya replies, "No, sorry. Where did you look?" Tomo says, "I looked in the living room. I also looked in the bedroom." Tomo then asks Tatsuya, "Where is it?" Tatsuya suggests, "Is it there?" Tomo replies he looked there, too. Tatsuya then says, "Oh! It's here!" Tomo thanks Tatsuya, and his friend says Itte mairimasu, which is a phrase meaning "I'm leaving now". Tomo replies with Itte irasshai or "Go and come home safely."
Vocabulary Review
ここ Koko- here
そこ Soko- there
あそこ Asoko- over there
行ってまいります Itte mairimasu- I'm leaving now
行っていらっしゃい Itte irasshai- Go and come home safely