GrammarJLPT N5
→ that (near listener)
That / It (near the listener)
JLPT N5Other (Demonstrative pronoun)Neutral
それ is a demonstrative pronoun meaning "that" or "it," used to refer to something that is physically or conceptually close to the listener but away from the speaker. It belongs to the こそあど (ko-so-a-do) system of Japanese demonstratives, where the そ-series (so-series) consistently points to things in the listener's domain. While これ refers to something near the speaker and あれ refers to something far from both speaker and listener, それ occupies the middle ground — the thing is near "you" (the person being spoken to). Beyond physical proximity, それ is also commonly used in conversation to refer back to something the listener just mentioned or something that has been established in the immediately preceding discourse. For example, if someone tells you about a book they read, you might respond with それ to mean "that (thing you just mentioned)." This anaphoric (back-referring) use is extremely common in daily Japanese and is one of the first grammar points learners encounter.
Functions
#1 Referring to something near the listener
Structure
それ + particle
それは何ですか。
Here それ points to an object that is physically close to the listener. The speaker can see the item but it is not within their own reach — it is in the listener's space. This is the most fundamental spatial use of それ and contrasts with これ (near me) and あれ (far from both of us). The particle は marks それ as the topic of the question.What is that (near you)?
Structures
- Standalone pronoun
- それ + particle (は / が / を / も, etc.)
Common mistakes
A frequent mistake is confusing それ with その. Remember that それ is a pronoun and stands alone (e.g., それはペンです), while その is a determiner that must be followed by a noun (e.g., そのペンは赤いです). Another common error is mixing up それ, これ, and あれ: learners sometimes use これ when the object is near the listener, where それ is correct. In discourse, beginners may use あれ to refer to something the listener just said, but the natural choice is それ because the information came from the listener's side. Finally, some learners forget that それ can refer to abstract ideas and situations, not only physical objects.
Related
これあれどれそのそこ