This これ・この

This and that. Actually Japanese also has one more.  They also have "that over there" - but we will get at that later.

There are 2 words in Japanese that are translated as "this" in English:

これ kore - When "this" is not connected to a noun - hang on you will get it in a minute

これ　は　何　です　か？ kore wa nan desu ka? What is this? これ　は　ねこ　です。 kore wa neko desu. This is a cat.

HINT To say "This is" or "is this" the kore will probably be followed by a は wa

この kono - When you put "this" before a noun, it changes to kono

この　ねこ　は　ポチ　です　か？ kono neko wa pochi desu ka? Is this cat, Pochi?. いいえ。　この　犬　は　ポチ　です。 iie kono inu wa pochi desu. No. This dog is Pochi.

HINT It may seem strange at first, but after a while This and That become second nature!