こそあど (ko-so-a-do) — Japanese demonstrative family
The pattern
Section titled “The pattern”Japanese has a four-by-five demonstrative grid. Every demonstrative comes from one of four roots (こ, そ, あ, ど) combined with one of five suffixes.
| こ (ko) — near speaker | そ (so) — near listener / just mentioned | あ (a) — far from both | ど (do) — question | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| thing (これ系列) | これ kore | それ sore | あれ are | どれ dore |
| type/kind (こんな系列) | こんな konna | そんな sonna | あんな anna | どんな donna |
| place (ここ系列) | ここ koko | そこ soko | あそこ asoko | どこ doko |
| way/manner (こう系列) | こう kou | そう sou | ああ aa | どう dou |
| direction (こちら系列) | こちら kotira | そちら sotira | あちら atira | どちら dotira |
Three “distances” (not two)
Section titled “Three “distances” (not two)”Unlike English (this/that), Japanese has three spatial distances for demonstratives:
- こ- (こ series): right here by the speaker
- そ- (そ series): near the listener, OR something just mentioned in the conversation (regardless of physical distance — this is the big difference from English)
- あ- (あ series): far from both speaker and listener, OR something both parties know about but isn’t currently present
English “that” maps to both そ- and あ- depending on context.
The casual ん / っ forms
Section titled “The casual ん / っ forms”In casual speech, の (the formal linking particle) often contracts to ん:
- この + の → このん (rare)
- その + の → そんな (common)
- あの + の → あんな (common)
- どの + の → どんな (always contracted)
そんな literally decomposes as: そ (so) + ん (の) + な (linker). Same for あんな / どんな. Konna is special: the お often elides (こんな instead of こんなは), but it’s not contraction in the same way.
“そんな” usage
Section titled ““そんな” usage”そんな (sonna) = “such” / “that kind of” / “like that” (dismissive or distancing).
- そんなこと = “such a thing” / “anything like that”
- そんな人 = “a person like that”
- そんなの = “something like that” (casual)
- そんなこと聞いたことがない。 = “I’ve never heard of such a thing.” (dismissive)
Tone: usually dismissive, surprised, or disbelieving. Pairs with the casual よ / ね: そんなのありえないよ = “No way, that’s impossible.”
Direction (polite) row
Section titled “Direction (polite) row”The bottom row (こちら / そちら / あちら / どちら) is the polite direction/origin form, used for:
- Giving directions: あちらが出口です。 = “That way is the exit.”
- Asking which one (of a set): どちらにしますか。 = “Which will you have?”
- Referring to a person (third-person address): あちらの方は… = “That person over there…”
The こちら form is the default polite answer when asked “where are you from?” — 日本から来ました with the from implied, or with 日本から explicit.
Source
Section titled “Source”Ebot lesson 2026-08-29: user asked about そんな in そんなこと聞いたことがない, realized it comes from the こそあど (ko-so-a-do) family. Confirmed by user: “I see, it’s from ko-no-a-so family.” (User’s own pronunciation of こそあど.)