What's the difference between これ and この

[Kura Ookami]

What is the difference between the two words 「これ」(this) and この(this).

これは日本の絵です。
この絵は日本のです。

Don't both sentences mean the same thing? "This (close to speaker) is a Japanese painting." Is the second sentence just a rewording of the first. If not, why not?

これ/この　are used when the thing you're talking about is close to you
それ/その　are used when the thing is close to the person you're talking to
あれ/あの　are used when the thing is far away from both of you.

Are there any words that indicate emotional distance like these convey physical distance?

[Cap'n Nick]

Because of the way これ and この work grammatically, they can affect word order, which in turn affects emphasis. This is the difference between "This is a Japanese painting" and "This painting is Japanese--" the same basic meaning with a very slight difference in emphasis.

To recap, the main grammatical difference between これ and この is that これ must not be used to modify an antecedent while この must always be used to modify an antecedent, actual or implied.

I do not know of any words that correspond to emotional distance the way the こ/そ/あ set corresponds to physical distance. Typically, formality is altered to indicate the appropriate level of intimacy or distance.

[EricTheFred]

What is confusing the issue is that in English we use one word (this) for two different grammatical functions. In Japanese these functions get separate words. I don't think English is unique in gathering them together, but the Japanese treatment makes perfect sense once you get used to it.

In a nutshell, the れ ending is a subjective or objective pronoun. The の ending is a possesive pronoun. It is easy to remember, because の is the possesive particle anyway.

The 'this' in "this painting" is in the same position as "my" in "my painting". "My" is possesive, so you attachea の after whichever version of "I" you find appropriate for yourself. For that reason, when saying "this" you use この. Using これ would be equivalent to saying "I painting", which would make no sense.

If you were to declare "I am a painting" you would use your first person pronoun choice without attaching the の. Hence here you use これ for "this is a painting."

It is, however, possible to say "Mine is a painting". You can also do this in Japanese (1PP + この ) for the exact same meaning. I don't think there is any semantic equivalent to such a construction involving この though, so you won't find it standing alone that way.

[Mr. Rogers]

Kura - do you understand these explanations? If not, I can scan the explanation out of my Japanese grammar book. It is pretty easy to understand.

[Kura Ookami]

Mr.Rogers. What grammar book do you use? Why not scan the explanation it gives?