【it/that】「それ/あれ」と訳されがちな単語の英語感覚の違いについて分かりやすく解説します！

Z is close to the Japanese word for that, but I can't translate it into Japanese. Hello everyone! I'm Dr. Nishizawa Roy. On this channel, I teach you how to learn a difficult language in a simple way. Roy-san, it's confusing to think that it and zat are similar, right? How should I use these two? I always say this, but It's hard to understand if you think about the difference between the two words. There are a lot of videos and information about it and zat, but no one tells you the basics. So, as an English doctor, I would like to explain the difference between it and zat from the basics. Please! First of all, I would like to ask Tony, what does it mean? Is that it? I see. So what does zat mean? That. Don't you think zat also means that? Ah, that's true, but I have a strong impression of that. I see. Well, it and zat are hard to understand even if you translate them into Japanese. Especially it. Zat is closer to the Japanese word for that and that, but it can't be translated into Japanese. What? It can't be translated? So it's important to understand it and zat from the basics. Let's start with zat. I said earlier that this is close to the Japanese word for that and that. In Japanese, it's divided into three stages, like this, that, and that. There are only two types of this and that in English, but the senses are quite similar. Basically, when the hand is close to the reach, you use this. So it's close to this. And basically, when the hand is far from the reach, you use zat. So it's translated as that or that. This and that are grammatically called four-syllable pronouns. Four-syllable pronouns. There's a nuance like that. If it's close, you use this. If it's far, you use that. It's good to feel the nuance of pointing your finger. And both this and that are pronounced like this, this, that, and zat. And it's not just that, but it's also an adjective. In short, it's like this book, that person. It's an adjective, so if you translate it into Japanese, it corresponds to this or that. And you need to keep in mind the plural form. Tony, do you know? Oh, it was these and those, right? Correct! The plural form of this is these. And the plural form of that is those. Next, let's move on to it. I told you that this and that are classified as four-syllable pronouns and have a nuance like pointing your finger. But it is classified differently. It is a pronoun. Tony, do you know what a pronoun is? A pronoun? Is it a pronoun used by people? That's right. A pronoun is something like I, my, me. You remember, right? I, my, me. You, you, are you. He, his, him. She, her, her. They, their, them. It, it, it. You see, it came out. Oh, I did it. A pronoun is a pronoun that changes like this. And there is one important nuance in this pronoun. But no one tells me this. For example, let's say you were asked where John was. And if John was on the upper floor, how would you answer? Tony, where is John? He is on the second floor. That's right. You don't say, John is on the second floor, or he is on the second floor, right? No, I don't. In Japanese, it is common to omit the plural form and say, he is on the second floor. Then let's ask the same question in English. You can say upstairs. Please answer, Tony. Where is John? He is upstairs. That's good. Here, you don't say, John is upstairs. You say, he is upstairs. This is an important point. In Japanese, you omit the plural form. The English pronoun is very close to that omission. It's close to omission. In other words, you don't have to say it. For example, I like it. What does it mean, Tony? Does that mean I like it? That's right. I and it are both pronouns. So it's close to omission in Japanese. In other words, if you want to pronounce it correctly in Japanese, you can say, I like it. That's enough. You don't have to say what you're pointing at. I like it. You can say, I like it. I see. In Japanese, the omission part is it. That's why I said, I can't translate it into Japanese. It's like the omission of Japanese. By the way, in a video on a famous YouTube channel, I explain that it is specified. That's what I'm talking about now. You don't have to say what you're pointing at. It's specified at a level that you can understand. That's why I point at it. But it's not just that it's specified. If you say it in Japanese, it's an omission of nuance. I want you to understand this. Yes, I understand. Now, about the difference between it and that. What I want to tell you is that you don't have to be particular about how to use it. There are a lot of Japanese people who want to use it correctly. There are a lot of people who want to express the nuances correctly. Of course, that's a great idea. But there's an order to everything. If you compare it to Tony's favorite baseball, I think people who haven't even hit a hit yet are aiming for a homerun. I see. That's a different order. First of all, let's shake the bat properly and hit back the ball. That's how you get a hit. It's about using more before you say you're going to use it. If you suddenly worry about how to use it, you'll be in trouble and you won't be able to communicate smoothly. I call it an English omission. First of all, it's important to use it because you can make a mistake. And if you don't get it right or you have a misunderstanding, or if you think it's a little suspicious, you can just say it in a different way and tell it further. But a lot of Japanese people suddenly want to use the correct expression to convey it in one shot. That's true. English is an unfree foreign language, so it's important to give up on that or split it up. On top of that, there are a lot of teachers and native speakers who have a lot of information about the difference between it and that. I hope you can use it as a reference. I can't help it if I say the same thing, so I'm going to tell you what other people won't tell you. For example, when the other person apologizes like I'm sorry, you can say it's okay or that's okay. But I think you can already see the difference in nuance. It's okay is close to the abbreviation. So it's kind of like, okay, okay. And that's okay is like that. It's kind of like, okay, okay. How is it specifically different? How is it different? Please think about it in Japanese. When the other person apologizes, it's okay and that's okay. How is it different? I don't think it's very different. You may not understand it well here, and that's fine. There is also an individual difference. Some people want to add meaning to this difference, and some people don't. That's the level of the story. If I were you, I think it would be better to use it. I asked a chat GPT for reference. He made an example sentence at that time, so I'll introduce it to you. First of all, it's an example sentence of it's okay. I'm really sorry for being late to our meeting. It's okay, don't worry about it. There are two times of it. And it's an example sentence of that's okay. I'm sorry for accidentally spilling coffee on your desk. That's okay. Accidents happen. It's an example sentence of that's okay. It's a little more serious to spill coffee. There is such a feeling. In that case, I use that. There may be such a difference. I think it can be used in exactly the same way. Anyway, are you pointing with your finger at that? Or do you feel like you're omitting it? I think it's okay to keep that nuance firmly. Also, there are things that praise people's opinions and other people's actions. For example, that sounds great. It's great to hear what the other person said. You can also praise others with that's a good idea. That's a good idea. Also, when someone is kind to you, you can say that's kind of you. This is all using that. I'm pointing at the other person's words and actions with that. In this case, it's basically that. It's important to use that to express it like that. Rather than being too particular about the use of it, I hope you can feel the nuance of pointing at that. This is a little extra information. I would like to introduce an interesting example related to this and that. As I explained earlier, basically, where the hand reaches is this. Where it doesn't reach is that. Let's dig a little deeper here. This this and that correspond to here and there. So what hits here is here. And what hits there is there. For example, if you want to say, If you want to say, you don't use here, but there. Because the hand doesn't reach. Well, in Japanese, it's called there, so if you think about it, it's the same. It's kind of interesting, isn't it? Yeah, it's interesting. And there's another interesting example. You can use it like this. For example, where the hand reaches in front of you, let's say there's a bell pepper. And a little further away, where the hand doesn't reach, there's a hamburger. There's someone who doesn't like bell peppers. I don't like this bell pepper. When you say, I like that hamburger. I don't like that. I like this. You can say it like that. Does that mean it's the opposite? It's not just a physical distance where the hand doesn't reach. It's also a psychological distance. So the bell pepper is where the hand reaches, but you don't want to get close because you hate it. I don't like that. You can use that. On the contrary, I love hamburgers. Even if the hand doesn't reach, I like it because it feels like it's right next to my heart. That's why you can say, I like this. Even if the hand doesn't reach, you can say it. I see. This example was taught to me by a native language teacher. I've never heard it in a real conversation, but it left a great impression on me, so I introduced it. That's interesting. Anyway, words are creatures. I was able to clearly imagine that IT is an abstract kanji and ZAT is a finger-pointing kanji. From now on, when I praise someone's behavior, I'm not going to say IT, I'm going to say ZAT. I learned a lot today. Thank you. Thank you for watching the video until the end. If you found this video helpful, please subscribe, rate it, and leave a comment. I'm sure many of you are new to the difference between IT and ZAT. I'd be happy if you could write your thoughts in the comments. See you in the next video. I'm Dr. Nishizawa Roy. See ya.