What Is This, That, & That Over There?

“All growth is a leap in the dark, a spontaneous, unpremeditated act without benefit of experience.” - Henry Miller

Since you know how to say “this/that/that-over-there is a _____” already, it’s only natural we take it to the next step and learn how to ask what something is. Only being able to ask “What is this?” or “What is that?” will open up so many possibilities, and will help to answer a lot of questions you might have in Japan or when talking to someone in Japanese. Now that you’ve learned これ, それ, and あれ, as well as the AはB pattern, you can both ask and answer this question, which is pretty nice.

So, before you move on, you need to learn one word:

なに / なん
“What”

Both なに and なん are the same word. なん is just a shortened / modified version of なに, and you’ll see both of them in different situations (we’ll go over that in a minute). For the grammar you’re going over right now, though, なん is going to be the most common / important, so you’ll be seeing that part. First, let’s do the most basic piece.

なん　ですか？
What is it?

This is just the same as phrases like えんぴつですか (is it a pencil?) or じてんしゃですか (is it a bicycle?), except instead of a noun, we’re just putting “what” in there (なん). So, if someone came up to you looking like they were going to ask you something… you could say なんですか to ask them “what is it?” Just like in English, though, this can be a little short and can make you sound a bit grumpy if you say it in a non-friendly way.

Now let’s add to this pattern. You remember this, right?

AはBですか？

Now, let’s replace one of them with なん.

A　は　なん ですか？
What is A?

You can see the “なんですか” part in there too. We’re just adding a little bit to it. If you take a look at this, I imagine you can figure out what you can replace the “A” with either これ, それ, or あれ… or any noun you already know. Let’s take a look at a few things.

これ　は　なん　ですか？
What is this? / As for “this,” what is it?

それ　は　なん　ですか？
What is that? / As for “that,” what is it?

あれ　は　なん　ですか？
What is that over there? / As for “that over there,” what is it?

えんぴつ　は　なんですか？
What is a pencil? / As for a pencil, what is it?

The really good ones to know, though, are the これ, それ, and あれ sets. With those, you can ask almost anything. If you don’t know what something is (as may happen a lot if you’re visiting / living in Japan) you’ll want to be able to ask, using this grammar point. Let’s take a look at some pictures – with the pictures, you’ll be able to practice “What” as well as all you’ve learned up to this point.

それ　は　なん　ですか？

  • What is that?

これ　は　じてんしゃ　です。　

  • This is a bicycle.

これ　は　じてんしゃ　ですか？

  • Is this a bicycle?

いいえ、それ　は　じてんしゃ　じゃありません。

  • No, that is not a bicycle

Yes, that (over there) is a bicycle.

  • はい、あれ は　じてんしゃ　です。

This is not a bicycle

  • これ　は　じてんしゃ　じゃありません。

あれ　は　でんしゃ　ですか。

  • Is that (over there) a train?

はい、あれ　は　でんしゃ　です。

  • Yes, that (over there) is a train.

あれ　は　なん　ですか。

  • What is that over there?

That over there is not a train

  • あれ　は　でんしゃ　じゃありません。

What is this?

  • これ　は　なんですか？

This is a pencil.

  • これ　は　えんぴつ　です。

それ　は　たべもの　じゃありません。

  • That is not food

あれ　は　のみもの　じゃありません。

  • That over there is not a beverage

これ　は　なん　ですか。

  • What is this?

それ　は　たべもの　です。

  • That is food.

これ　は　のみもの　ですか。

  • Is this a beverage?

No, that is not a beverage.

  • いいえ、それ　は　のみもの　じゃありません。

If you were able to get through all of these translations, then you’re ready to move on to the next chapter. I know it’s a lot, but as you know, things build on each other, meaning you’ll be able to practice this a lot as you move forward. Do make sure you understand how all this works, though – You should be able to tell the difference between これ, それ, and あれ, and also be able to ask “what is this” or “what is that” (and other similar sentences). If you can do all that, then it’s time to move on to the next chapter… that is, after you’ve studied your kanji!

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