"あそこにあります。"
Translation:It is over there.
55 Comments
Leaving "three" and "there" as option just punishes you for not being attentive enough, even though you might know the answer x)
I just laughed in the middle of a cafe when I realized I made that same mistake.
This happens to me all the time when they have o and 'clock as seperate buttons. I always forget to press the o
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.
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"
あり is a verb which means to exist in space or to be somewhere (only used for inanimate objects), so it must end in ます.
ある is the dictionary form of the verb. あり is the stem of ます form to be more precise
Two different contexts:
-
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.
-
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... :)
I appreciate the explanation. But that sort of distinction will be extremely difficult to remember to a native English speaker, without someone there to keep me honest, haha.
Koko = here, Soko = there, Asoko = over there, Doko = where. These are some of the kosoado words
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"
112
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.
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. (:
Anyone have a method/trick to remembering the here vs there words? I'm always getting those confused.......
- 112
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.
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.
に is the location marker used just directly after the location word itself. が or は is to specify the topic / subject
Why is "He is over there" not correct? I thought the "it" was just implied
- 112
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.
- 437
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?
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."
I believe I reveived a message few days ago that this is now accepted finally, although I reported this months ago.
あそこ is one word and means a place that is far away from both the listener and the speaker, compared to そこ where the place is near to the listener. Please check my other post in this thread about this.
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I don't see why everyone is down-voting someone for asking a question :|
The problem is that the question has already been asked several times. People should not pollute the thread by repeated questions. They should check if the question has been asked before posting a new one.
