"あそこにあります。"
Translation:It is over there.
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Leaving "three" and "there" as option just punishes you for not being attentive enough, even though you might know the answer x)
1293
Two different contexts:
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When talking about a place that physically exists in the vicinity of the speaker and listener, そこ means a place that is near to the listener and far from the speaker. あそこ means a place that is far from both the speaker and the listener.
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When talking about a place that is not physically in the vicinity, そこ means a place that has been discussed in the previous conversation. あそこ means a place that is known by both the speaker and the listener, but has not been discussed in the previous conversation.
This is kinda easier to understand for portuguese speakers, because we have different words for each case, just like in Japanese.
For those who are aware of it, the somewhat archaic English word "yonder" is sometimes used to distinguish (meaning 1 of) あそこ and そこ. Unfortunately it won't help most people, as it isn't a very common word in the modern language... :)
German has them too. "da/dort/" (there) and "da/dort drüben/hinten" (over there)
And really hard for russians, because we have only здесь （ここ）and там （そこ）. No more cases.
I guess we kinda use three different terms "here" "there" "over there"
- 1044
Yes, to differentiate between talking about something close to the speaker, close to the listener or far for both the speaker and listener.
Soko - "there" Asoko - "Over there"
Both differ in hoe far the context is
- 1293
です is short of であります (no は)
And so あそこであります and あそこにあります mean the same thing.
To translate exactly in English, あそこであります is "[The answer is] over there." あそこにあります is "[It] exists over there." The two answers are literally different but means the same thing as an answer to the question どこにありますか.
Thank you for this! I have a question tho.. If they are the same, which is used more for conversation and for writing? Also, are both polite?
- 1293
あそこです (It is over there) and あそこにあります (There is it over there, or it exists over there) are both used frequently.
Thank you. I've noticed that if I use arimasen, I need to use ni after, like in the sentence given and nothing when I use desu (no markers at all).
です is just a politeness marker, in reality, not a true verb. Strictly speaking, the verb "to be" is two Japanese verbs (actually, a lot more, but these two are the main ones) - ある (在る・有る) and いる (居る). The first is for inanimate objects (not alive), the second for animate objects (living).
I'm overcomplicating things here, but uhm... Think of arimasu as "exists" and desu as "the same thing as". "It exists over there" or "it is the same thing as over there"
Koko = here, Soko = there, Asoko = over there, Doko = where. These are some of the kosoado words
Here is a flashcard set I made for these and more learned during this lesson: https://www.cram.com/flashcards/japanese-ko-so-a-do-11471229
あそこ+に = over there + location particle あります = there is / exists
The "it" is implied. It ends up being something like: "Over there (it) exists"
No, それ and そこ (and あれ and あそこ) carry their meaning independently of the particles used.
それ/あれ are pronouns for objects, while そこ/あそこ are pronouns for locations.
- 1293
By the way I have never seen あそこ written as 彼処. Also あります is not written in kanji. Even あります is written in kanji, it is ＜在＞ instead of ＜有＞, where ＜在＞ means that something is at a place, and ＜有＞ means that something exists.
Yeah, I have never seen those written in kanji either. It's better just to write these in hiragana. (:
Why the use of に and not が？I thought that's what we're supposed to use with ある/いる.
I think it's because に is the particle for place which is what the preceding word refers to.
Yes, that's it. If a thing was mentioned, like a table is over there, ga would be used. Asoko ni taberu ga arimasu.
に is the location marker used just directly after the location word itself. が or は is to specify the topic / subject
Anyone have a method/trick to remembering the here vs there words? I'm always getting those confused.......
KSAD is a common mnemonic for the demonstrative pronouns in Japanese.
- K = near the speaker: ここ (here), これ (this)
- S = near the listener: そこ (there), それ (that)
- A = far from both speaker and listener: あそこ (there), あれ (that)
- D = interrogative: どこ (where), どれ (which)
I think of it like:
これ. -> Kore -> core -> ones "core" = abs in workout lingo. So is Close to my Core. Or core values, close to my Core.
それ -> Sore ->(as if talking to the other person): "So you...."
or "sorry..." (again, something one might say TO another person).
so, それ "sore" is referencing (something near) the person you're talking to.
あれ- afar - "oh so far away.." ( from us both),or "afar"
"over" there, over and away,
Out of reach (for either of us).
(These references all start with a vowel, and imply distance - from everyone in the conversation). Not nearby, considering everyone involved as a single unit.
これ Cool, THIS Really awesome thing ..
ここ HERE near me.
(core HERE by my core)
THIS これ Cool REd thing is ここ HERE by my CoConut Core.
("Sometimes I feel like a nut, Mounds don't"
- Referencing Almond Joy/Mounds coconut candy bar commercials.
I Am the candy bar.
)
それ So, THAT Really awesome thing ..
そこ So near you THERE, at your loCation.
それ Sorry (sore) THAT thing (SO REally) ..
そこ THERE, So CLOse to you ...
あれ THAT Always ( "always" -> "are") out of reach object ..
あそこ as far as I know (asoko),
[ is] Way OVER THERE
A So loCo - (a so co = asoko ), far away place.
あれ THAT out of reach thing ...
あそこ way OVER THERE, (so crazy) far away.
Similarly:
ここ : koko -> core -> near me -> this (これ) thing HERE near me
or THIS Core (like a battery core, or iron core) near my Core (me) -> this apple COre is near my COre -> aka it's HERE = koko = ここ
そこ : soko : THERE is so close to you (So ClOse = So Ko = soko = そこ).
Or, knowing starting with そ.. is going to be in relation to where the other person is (cuz それ, そこ), and knowing the ending
(..こ) is referencing the place/location pronoun
(THIS/THAT/THAT Over There),
It's kind of a natural progression equating
それ THAT (object near person your training to) and
そこ THERE (location near the person your taking to) -> THAT (battery) loCaTion (ca->co->ko)
or "su" (your in Spanish) "loco" (location, as in locomotion) -> su co -> so ko -> soko: そこ: THERE.
Again expanding from above:
( knowing れ ending is REferencing an object THIS one / THAT one) , and
こ ending is loCAcation, or loCOmotion to arrive at a place, HERE /THERE)
あれ... (THAT far away object...)
あそこ (...way over THERE)
あ..... are both referencing something far away from both speakers.
.....そこ is THERE, that (location/place)
あぞこ is (way/over there/afar/away from us/at over) THERE, that (location/place) WAy OVER THERE.
Similar to
あれ.
(sorry JoshuaLore8, didn't mean to reply directly to you. I Meant to reply to OP.
Your explanation is GREAT.
I just wanted to add some other tricks I employed when FIRST leaning the words - including how they sound, how they are they similar AND how they are different.
Now that I know them, shortcuts like you gave is sufficient to keep them all straight. )
Don't try using all these memory aids together.
Instead, pick one for
- Each Word,
and/or
- Proximity Group (near me, near you, far from both/all of us)
and/or
- Pronoun Group (this/that/ that over there) VS (here/there/over there)
... Either a mnemonic, sentence, or idea...
that makes sense to you, or is easy to remember.
Whatever help you differentiate 2 that you get confused, or a way to tell remember similar items.
Ignore the rest.
Taken all together, the aids are all over the place. Pick and choose a coherent group catered to your own mind patterns.
I wrote "there is over there" i.e. Is there any pasta? 'There is over there.'
It seems (as a native speaker), in English to be interchangeable in context. It also feels like a more faithful, if somewhat uncommon, translation of the exact words used. Is that wrong? Or is Duolingo just being pedantic?
- 1044
I guess it gets marked, because that sentence is missing a subject for the English translation and we're translating a formal Japanese one here. Sure, you can omit the subjects in for example imperatives ('[You] Go over there!') and exclamations ('Hey, [you've got a] cute cat!') in English, but we have a statement here and it's in formal speech.
"They are over there" should also work and doesn't rely as heavily on context (just whether it's about singular or plural).
Just my thoughts though, I'm neither an expert nor English native!
You're right, "there is over there" is not grammatically correct English. But duo didn't accept "They're there" either, which i think should be accepted.
yes, i'm not satisfied with duo rejecting this tidy translation, too
"it is over there" fits in あそこです better, although i understand they mean the same
Would "It is way over there" be a more accurate translation given we dont any surrounding context to just put it as just "it is over there?"
Would "it is in there" be correct? Because ni is either "at" or "in", and soko is "the place over there". In the place over there should be good as well, am i wrong?
- 1293
Most probably no. For most situation of "it is in there" (something hidden in another), we would say あそこに入っています.
The it is over there like it is a little bit weird because like the first letter "A"あ it is weird but rest of them are okay.
Why is "He is over there" not correct? I thought the "it" was just implied
The "it" is just implied, but because the verb is あります, "it" is implied to be a non-living/inanimate object. For "he", the verb would have to be います.
Why is "The place is over there" not a valid translation? Is it because of the use of に versus は/が? Is the implication that because the particle に is being used there is an object being implicitly referred to?
- 1293
I think the thing that exists over there is not restricted to a place, but can also be an object. So without context we should not guess that it is a place, because we have a better and more natural choice for this translation: "it."
- 1293
I believe I reveived a message few days ago that this is now accepted finally, although I reported this months ago.
- 1493
This makes sense! The こ words are close to both the speaker and the listener(here,ここ), the そ words are close to the speaker and far from the listener(there,そこ), the あ(over there,あそこ) words are far from both and the ど words are the equivalent of a interrogative or demonstrative pronoun (in this case where,どこ). Is this correct?
Close, but not quite.
- こ is for words close to the speaker; it doesn't matter where the listener is.
- そ is for words close to the listener; by necessity, this also means words far from the speaker, because it would be こ otherwise.
- あ is for words far from both speaker and listener
- ど is for interrogative words, not demonstratives (that's what こ,そ, and あ do)
I typed "They're over there" and marked wrong... How can I know it's plural or not?
- 1044
Keep reporting it as possible answer with the flag button. Somebody else up there also tried that months ago.
Plural (for non-living things of course) could totally be implied here.
- 1044
No, because に marks the location and since in your sentence no word comes before it this location is completely missing making the sentence incomplete.
Like saying: "It's...". You're bound to get asked: "It's where?"
あそこ = over there
So you can theoretically just say「あそこ」, but don't be surprised if people think you're rude, if you don't end in at least です :D
... why was (it) not put in the hint? I got this wrong because of that ): now im sad
I do believe that either あそこです and あそこにあります are correct but some would say that the first is for objects that are less likely to change their location (like a building) and the second is for objects that can be moved around (like a phone or a bottle etc.) so it depends on context but both would be understood
- 1044
No, because a) あそこ always refers to something that's far from the listener and speaker (therefore you can only use ここ for your current location) and b) あります refers to inanimate objects, living beings use います.
"I am over here" would be「ここにいます。」
Yes, thank you. I understand that. I was wondering if the translation could be "I am over there" rather than "It is over there". Sorry if I wasn't clear.
- 1044
I understood your question, but apparently my answer wasn't clear enough for you to understand :D
So, since you're a human, a living being, you need to use います instead of あります to talk about where you're existing. あります is only for non-living objects.
ここ = here (a place that is next to where the speaker is)
そこ = there (a place near the listener)
あそこ = over there (a place that's far away from both the listener and speaker)
So unless you have an out-of-your-physical-body-experience you will never be able to use あそこ to describe your current location, since, like I said, it describes a place that not only isn't near the listener, but also not near the speaker, so yourself!
The sentence at hand is「あそこにあります。」and can only be translated as "Something is over there.", where something can refer to any non-living object, be it a building, park, car, shop, etc... We don't have any context, so we default to "it", which could stand for anything I just listed.
Therefore no, the translation for「あそこにあります。」cannot be "I am over there."
