means "there": the place where the person you are talking to is, and not where you are. It is a place word and a noun, so は and the other particles follow it directly.
It is one of a set of four:
- – here, where the speaker is
- – there, where the listener is
- – over there, away from both
- – where
。
That is my seat.
Literally "there is my seat".
そこ or あそこ
English "there" covers both. is where the listener is, and is away from both of you.
。
The key is there.
Beside the listener.
。
The toilet is over there.
Away from both of you.
そこ or その
is a place and stands alone. In front of a noun the word is
: ×そこ部屋 is wrong.
With particles
takes the particle a place name would take:
for where something is or where you are going,
for where something is done,
for "from",
for a place you pass or turn at.
。
It is a five-minute walk from there to the station.
。
Please turn right there.
Usage notes
These go beyond pointing at a place you can see.
A place just mentioned
also points back at a place that has just come up in the conversation. A place you both already know from before is
.
。。
I went to Tokyo yesterday. I ate delicious ramen there.
A point rather than a place
can also point at a part of what is being discussed, usually something the other person has just said.
Lingaku