「こっち・そっち・あっち」Here, there and over there
「こっち・そっち・あっち」Here, there and over there
Here, there, over there
From the title of this lesson and the usage of こ・そ・あ, you may have an idea of the topic being covered.
In this lesson, we will cover three words: こっち, そっち, and あっち. These words describe a location and follow the following pattern:
こ referring to a place near the speaker
そ referring to a place near the listener
あ referring to a place that is away from both of them.
1
こっち = here/over here
暑いから、こっちに来て日陰に入ろう。
It’s hot, so come over here and get in the shade.
こっち見て！虹が出ているよ！
Look over here! There’s a rainbow!
2
そっち = there/over there (side of the listener)
今そっちに向かっているよ。
I’m heading your way now.
そっちの店、まだ開いている？
Is that store near you still open?
3
あっち = over there/that way (away from listener and speaker)
あっちに見えるのが富士山だよ。
That over there is Mt. Fuji.
危ないから、あっちに行かないで。
Don’t go over there — it’s dangerous.
Special Note
These three terms can also be used to refer to people. That is, こっち, そっち, and あっち refer to I, y’all/you, and he/him/she/her/they/them, respectively.
こっち, そっち and あっち are spoken, more casual versions of こちら, そちら and あちら, which we cover in a different lesson.
...れ | ...(そ)こ | ...の | ...ちら | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
こ... | 此れ | 此処 | 此の | 此方 |
そ... | 其れ | 其処 | 其の | 其方 |
あ... | 彼れ | 彼処 | 彼の | 彼方 |
ど... | 何れ | 何処 | 何の | 何方 |