Happy Sunday Japanophiles, Herewith the 47th issue of the Hai Japan Newsletter — your Weekly Dose of Japan!

Today, we’re simply going through some grammar:

Learn こんな, そんな, あんな, どんな: Understanding Japanese Demonstratives

In this lesson, we'll explore こんな (konna), そんな (sonna), あんな (anna), and どんな (donna) — a group of Japanese words that describe "what something is like." These words belong to the こそあど (ko-so-a-do) family of demonstratives.

They are casual expressions often used before nouns to describe them. By the end of this lesson, you'll know when and how to use each one!

📖 Table of Contents

1. The Basics

   • What Are こんな, そんな, あんな, どんな?

   • Formal Alternatives

2. Conceptualizing こそあど

3. Patterns of Use

4. Beyond the Basics

   • Combining with に (ni)

   • Using そんな for Interjections

   • Combining with 風 (fū)

🔑 The Basics

What Are こんな, そんな, あんな, どんな?

• こんな (konna): Refers to something close to the speaker. Think: "like this" or "this kind of."

• そんな (sonna): Refers to something close to the listener or relatively neutral. Think: "like that" or "that kind of (near you)."

• あんな (anna): Refers to something far from both the speaker and the listener. Think: "that kind of (over there)."

• どんな (donna): Asks a question. Think: "what kind of?"

Example:
こんな本がほしい！ (Konna hon ga hoshii!)
"I want a book like this!"

Formal Alternatives:
In formal writing or speeches, you can use この様な (kono yōna), その様な (sono yōna), あの様な (ano yōna), and どの様な (dono yōna) instead.

🌐 Conceptualizing こそあど

The こそあど words all follow a distance rule:

• こ-words (ko): Close to the speaker (e.g., こんな, この).

• そ-words (so): Close to the listener (e.g., そんな, その).

• あ-words (a): Far from both speaker and listener (e.g., あんな, あの).

• ど-words (do): Used for questions (e.g., どんな, どの).

📝 Patterns of Use

These words always go before a noun or the particle の (no), which replaces a noun.

Examples:

1. Before a noun:
   そんなおもしろい本をどこで買ったの？
   (Sonna omoshiroi hon o doko de katta no?)
   "Where did you buy such an interesting book?"

2. Before の (no):
   あんなのは見たことがない。
   (Anna no wa mita koto ga nai.)
   "I've never seen something like that."

3. Before に (ni):
   あんなにたくさん食べて大丈夫？
   (Anna ni takusan tabete daijōbu?)
   "Is it okay to eat that much?"

🌟 Beyond the Basics

Combining with に (ni):

When combined with に, these words express extent or quantity:

• こんなに (konna ni): "This much"

• そんなに (sonna ni): "That much"

• あんなに (anna ni): "That much (far away)"

• どんなに (donna ni): "How much?"

Examples:

こんなに美味しいキムチは初めて！
(Konna ni oishii kimuchi wa hajimete!)
"I’ve never had kimchi this delicious!"

Using そんな (sonna) for Interjections

そんな (sonna) can also be used alone as an interjection to express surprise or frustration.

Example:
これから毎日十時間日本語を勉強するんだ！
(Kore kara mainichi jū-jikan nihongo o benkyō suru nda!)
"From now on, I’ll study Japanese for ten hours every day!"

えっ、そんな！
(E, sonna!)
"What!? No way!"

Combining with 風 (fū):

By adding 風 (fū), you describe the manner or style of something. This makes your description a bit vaguer.

Examples:

こんな風な髪型にしてください。
(Konna fū na kamigata ni shite kudasai.)
"Please style my hair kind of like this."

For even more vagueness, add 感じ (kanji):

こんな風な感じの髪型にしてください。
(Konna fū na kanji no kamigata ni shite kudasai.)
"Please make my hair kind of like this style."

🚀 Tips for Practice

1. Use in daily life:
   Practice pointing to objects or describing people near you with こんな, そんな, あんな.

2. Pair with emotions:
   Use these words to describe your feelings or reactions to events (e.g., こんな嬉しい日は初めて – "I've never had a day this happy").

3. Ask questions:
   Use どんな (donna) to ask "what kind of?" questions.

Mastering こんな, そんな, あんな, and どんな opens up a world of possibilities for describing things in Japanese. Start using them today!

That’s all folks!

Let me know if you enjoyed this simple grammar run-through :)

Have a great Sunday!