Basic Expression Course

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Marshall
Basic Course
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  • 96 week duration

Basic Expression Course

Lesson 7: Nounの上/下/中/前/後

In this lesson, I will teach you how to express the position of something in Japanese.


Positions in Japanese:

Difference between となり and よこ:
A B C
B,C are よこ to A
B is となり to A, but C is not となり to A.

うえ=top,した=bottom,まえ=front,うしろ=back,みぎ=right,ひだり=left 
なか=inside,そと=outside
かい=across from,となり=next to,よこ=next to,そば=ちかく=near
ひがし=east 西にし=west みなみ=south きた=north

Example Phrases:

の is a particle that can be used to express the position.
You can learn more usage of の in [Particle Course].

(1)つくえうえ 
on the desk

(2)つくえした 
under the desk

(3)いえまえ 
in front of the house

(4)いえうしろ  
behind the house

(5)きょうしつなか 
in the classroom

(6)きょうしつそと 
outside the classroom

(7)なかさんのみぎ  
Mr. Tanaka’s right

(8)なかさんのひだり  
Mr. Tanaka’s left

(9)なかさんのとなり  
next to Mr. Tanaka

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24 thoughts on “Lesson 7: Nounの上/下/中/前/後

  1. 机の上に鉛筆があるよ。
    椅子の下にペンがあるね。
    扉の前に猫がいますわ。
    学校の後ろに学生がいますの。
    店の右に学校があるのよ。
    家の左に駅があるのね。
    家の中に本田先輩がいますのわ。
    会社の外にパパがいますよ。
    会社の向かいに学校があるね。
    詩野本さんの横に本田先輩と莉子さんがいますよ。
    でも、莉子さんは詩野本さんのとなりにいませんね。
    学校の近くは駅がある。
    中国の東に日本がある。
    フランスの西に亜米利加があるね。
    ドイツの南にイタリアがあるわ。
    日本の北はロシアがある

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  2. 家の前に猫がいます。
    There is a cat in front of the house.

    家の前は公園です。
    There is a park in front of my house.

    Is there any difference between these two sentences?
    Like, do they put more emphasis on different parts of the sentence? Is one more colloquial than the other? Or they are just the same?

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    1. Admin bar avatar

      The first sentence: cat is the subject.
      The second sentence: “before house” is the theme. You will learn more about は and が in Particle Course

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    2. Oh, I see.
      Thanks, and Merry Christmas 🎄

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  3. Would 学校の近くは家です be considered correct?

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    1. Admin bar avatar

      近く is too wide. This sentence will be considered that all houses near the school are your houses.
      You should use 学校の近くに家があります。

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    2. I see, thanks for clearing up the confusion.

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  4. It seems like we can use both the “is in” structures and the “is” structures here to say the same thing.

    So, would
    山田さんの前に車があります
    and
    山田さんの前は車です

    mean “There is a car in front of Mr. Yamada” ?

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    1. Admin bar avatar

      yes!

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  5. Gosh, this is more difficult to think from English to Japanese, than it is from Greek to Japanese… I am happy my mother tongue is not English.
    In my mind this happens when I use English “Book Bag inside is ?????”
    Whereas from Greek is so smoother… Το βιβλίο στην τσάντα μέσα είναι. Not an usual structure but it makes sense.

    If you are not an English native speaker, it might worth trying your mother tongue to understand this…

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    1. yes, like italian, it is easier^^

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  6. In つくえのうえにほんがあります, why is there ほん?

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    1. Admin bar avatar

      I don’t understand, could you please provide more details?

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    2. in this example: 机の上に本があります。, I didn’t realize that 本 meant book and I was confused but now I get it. Looks like I need to revise my vocabulary haha. Thank You!

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    3. Admin bar avatar

      Okay!

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  7. Hello! Just testing the comment feature.

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    1. Admin bar avatar

      Hi!

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  8. is そば and 近く interchangeable?

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    1. Admin bar avatar

      そば is closer than 近く, they are different.

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  9. Hoi on this lesson to!! X3
    Does soba and chikaku mean the same thing, “near”

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    1. Admin bar avatar

      “soba” is nearer than “chikaku”.

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  10. Also what is the difference between tonari and yoko please

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    1. Admin bar avatar

      yoko: horizontal direction
      tonari: 360 degree

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    2. Thank you!! 🙂

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