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- "Is the school this way?"
"Is the school this way?"
Translation:学校はこっちですか？
14 Comments
I thought こっち was a shortened/more casual form of こちら, but it doesn't accept that. Am I mistaken, or would 学校はこちらですか be a correct translation?
Why is 'kochi' in this question but 'achi' when asking for north in previous question?
They use the same difference between words as kore/sore/are for that/this.
Ko- indicates closer proximity to the speaker So- indicates closer proximity to the listener A- indicates something that is distant from both speaker & listener
In the context of these questions, when asking "is this way north?" the speaker is providing some example and asking if their assumption is correct. The example of North provided is considered close to the speaker, so kochi is used. When asking "which way is North?" there's no proximity context for North. In this case atchi is used.
Hopefully that makes sense. I'm sure someone else can explain better.
こっち means "this way/direction". そっち means "that way/direction" (close to the listener), and あっち means "that way/direction" (far from both speaker and listener).
こっち means "this way/direction". そっち means "that way/direction" (close to the listener), and あっち means "that way/direction" (far from both speaker and listener).
こprefix means it's here near you, そ means is there, a little further from you, then あ means is away from you and the person you're speaking to. Hope it helps
How is this written in plain/casual form without です? Tried a few options but no luck.
I don't understand how to choose between ko'chi and so'chi.
I know how to use ko- so- a- depending on speaker or listener proximity.
However, in this case, we're not talking about positions, but about directions.
For me, a direction doesn't have a position, a direction is not near me, or far from me, it's just a direction. Then, how can I tell if a direction is close to someone ?
Of course I noticed the english sentence uses "this", so it's "ko'chi". My question is more general.
260
Had you never guide directions for someone? How'd you say that: "you go THIS way or you go THIS way" or try to distinguish because they are not the same "you go THIS way or you go THAT way"?
It is natural for a person to have a prefered view, and that is similar to how こ-words work. Add your direct opponent's view, other's view and noone's view to the stack and you get the kosoado kotoba. Proximity is just a special case.
I believe you are free to use こちら all the time if you are always confident in yourself. But don't forget that こちら row group is also a polite equivalent of the ここ and これ, and you have to use そちら and あちら if that is in the context.
