Japanese/Grammar/Pro-forms

Japanese has demonstratives (words for pointing to the subject of discussion) much in the same way that many other languages do. Japanese demonstratives are highly regular and take four standard prefixes:
 * こ〜, for objects close to the speaker;
 * そ〜, for objects closer to the listener;
 * あ〜, for objects far from either; and
 * ど〜, for question forms.

These are suffixed with various pronoun indicators that are listed in the table below.

Japanese also makes a distinction between a prenominal form and regular form, meaning that the prenominal form must describe a noun that follows. For example, in the sentence "This cat" the word "this" describes the cat. The prenominal form replaces the れ with a の. In that way, "あの", "その" and "この" are the prenominal forms of "this" and "that".

Note that the 〜ちら chira group may be used instead of the 〜こ ko group and also may be appended with の no instead of the 〜の no group in some cases in more official (formal) expressions. For example, "こちらの kochira no" can also mean "this (object/thing)".

Which which
There are several ways to say which depending on the number and item being asked about.

While these are by no means hard rules, "どちら" is more used particularly for two objects while "どれ" is mainly used for three or more items. For a particular item one can use "どの〜" (for whatever number) though "どちらの〜" is also common.

Also...

 * どのくらい, どれぐらい

"どのくらい" or "どれくらい" is a phrase for listening to the "at degree" or "grade" like "How many?" or "How much?" in English.

In Japanese, “くらい” or “ぐらい” means "at degree" of English. And "くらい" is one of noun.

"ぐらい" is the euphonic change of "くらい".

There are two meanings of "How many " or "How much".
 * どれほど

One meaning is a phrase to listen to the "at degree", as in “どのくらい” above.

Another meaning is an expression used as an antonym question when you want to emphasize that the degree is high or low.

In form, above sentence is a question form, But the meaning is not question.

The meaning is “I walked very much”, and I emphasize that.

Unlike English antonym questions, Japanese antonym questions give a somewhat high-pressure impression, so be careful when using them.


 * どれだけ

None, all, some
"どれか" is used to mention one or few from a plurality of items.
 * どれか

"どれも" and "どれでも" is used when everything introduced in topic is  matched to the topic theme.
 * どれも、どれでも

A note on kanji
The prefixes have kanji, but these are written in kana in modern Japanese. They are: Some of the suffixes similarly have kanji:
 * こ〜: 此
 * そ〜: 其
 * あ〜: 彼
 * ど〜: 何
 * 〜こ: 処
 * 〜ちら: 方
 * 〜いつ: 奴