そこ: there by you or the place just mentioned
Use そこ for a place by the listener or a place already identified in the conversation, and choose ここ or あそこ when the viewpoint changes.
そこ means “there,” usually a place near the listener or a place the conversation has already identified. Use ここ for “here” by the speaker and あそこ for “over there” away from both people. English often calls both そこ and あそこ “there,” so the natural Japanese choice depends on where the speaker and listener are.
Write the everyday word in kana as そこ. Dictionaries list 其処 and 其所, but JMdict marks those kanji forms as rare and marks the word as usually written in kana. Recognize 其処 if you meet it, but use そこ in ordinary messages, labels, and conversation.
Start with the speaker and listener
The most dependable beginner pattern is conversational position. ここ points to the speaker's area. そこ points to the listener's area. あそこ points to a place away from both. The Japan Foundation uses this same three-way distinction in workplace examples about locating supplies.
The location is not permanently ここ or そこ. If you move, or if the other person becomes the speaker, the word can change. A spot that Ken calls そこ because it is beside Yui is the same spot Yui can call ここ because it is now beside her.
When both people are standing together, そこ can also indicate a nearby spot that neither person is occupying, while あそこ usually pushes the listener's attention farther away. Real conversations add a pointing gesture or a phrase such as 箱の上 (“on the box”) when “there” alone would be unclear.
Use そこ for a place already introduced
そこ does not always require the place to be physically beside the listener. It can also point back to a location that was just mentioned. In 入り口の横に空いている場所があります。そこに置いてください, the first sentence identifies an open spot beside the entrance, and そこ means “that place.”
This is why そこ works naturally in directions and follow-up instructions. First identify the place, then use short phrases such as そこに置いて (“put it there”), そこで待っていて (“wait there”), or そこを右に曲がって (“turn right there”). If the listener may not know which spot you mean, add a concrete landmark instead of repeating そこ more loudly.
Setting up a neighborhood exchange table
Yui and Ken are arranging boxes and furniture in a community room. Yui enters carrying a box while Ken stands near the sign-making supplies.
ケンが「その箱、そこに置いて」と頼むと、ユイは自分の足元を指して「ここ？」と確認しました。Both words refer to the same spot. It is そこ from Ken's viewpoint because it is by Yui, and ここ from Yui's viewpoint because she is standing there.
After setting down the box, they stand together and look toward the far end of the room.
二人が並んで部屋の奥を見ると、ユイは「あそこに机を置こう」と提案しました。The back of the room is away from both of them, so あそこ is the natural starting point.
Ken then notices an unused space beside the entrance.
ケンは「入り口の横に空いている場所があるよ。そこに傘を置こう」と提案しました。Here そこ points back to the open spot introduced in the sentence before it. The conversation, not physical distance alone, identifies the place.
While Yui makes a sign, she needs the scissors.
ユイが「はさみはどこ？」と聞くと、ケンは「そこ。箱の上」と答えました。そこ。箱の上。 is a natural short answer because the second phrase removes any doubt. In a more polite exchange, Ken could say そこです。箱の上にあります.
Yui later starts to put another box in the walkway.
ユイが別の箱を床に置こうとすると、ケンは「そこじゃなくて、こっちに置いて」と声をかけました。そこじゃなくて、こっち is an everyday repair when the listener has chosen the wrong spot. こっち is the casual direction word “this way” or “over here.”
Once the setup is finished, Yui looks for somewhere to sit.
準備が終わると、ユイは椅子を指して「そこ、空いてる？」と聞き、ケンは「うん、どうぞ」と答えました。In casual speech, そこ、空いてる？ can ask whether a nearby spot or seat is free. The gesture and the visible chair supply the context that the short sentence leaves unstated.
A useful everyday check is to ask who is speaking and what place has already been named. If the location is by the speaker, choose ここ. If it is by the listener or was just introduced, choose そこ. If both people are looking farther away, choose あそこ. Then make the sentence as specific as the moment requires.
Pop quiz
Your friend is standing beside the scissors, while you are across the room. Which sentence most naturally tells your friend where the scissors are?
- A. はさみはそこにあります。
- B. はさみはここにあります。
- C. はさみはあそこにあります。
Show answer
Aはさみはそこにあります。
The scissors are beside the listener, so そこ is the natural choice. ここ would place them by the speaker, while あそこ would frame them as away from both people.
Language reference
Vocabulary
- そこ
- there by the listener; that place just mentioneddemonstrative pronoun
- ここ
- here by the speakerdemonstrative pronoun
- あそこ
- over there, away from both speaker and listenerdemonstrative pronoun
- 足元
- at one's feet; the area around one's feetnoun
- 奥
- the back or inner part of a placenoun
- 入り口
- entrancenoun
Grammar pattern
- ここ／そこ／あそこ + に + location verb
marks where something is, goes, or is placed
Form place demonstrative + に + あります／置きます／行きます, etc.
Register neutral; politeness comes from the rest of the sentence
- そこじゃなくて + corrected location
corrects a mistaken location: not there, but...
Form そこ + じゃなくて + ここ／こっち／specific location
Register common in casual conversation; use そこではなくて for more formal wording
Meaning map
そこ
a location on the listener's side or a location already identified in the conversation
Write it in kana in ordinary modern Japanese. The exact boundary between そこ and あそこ follows the shared conversational viewpoint, so gestures and concrete landmarks often clarify the intended spot.
an object is beside the listener
鍵はそこにあります。
The key is there by you.
そこ points to the listener's area.
the same kind of object is beside the speaker
鍵はここにあります。
The key is here by me.
ここ replaces そこ when the location belongs to the speaker's area.
both people look toward a distant reception desk
受付はあそこです。
Reception is over there.
あそこ points away from both speaker and listener.
a place is named and then referred to again
棚の横に台があります。そこに置いてください。
There is a stand beside the shelf. Please put it there.
そこ points back to the stand just identified.
a visible object makes a short answer clear
「はさみはどこ？」「そこ。箱の上。」
“Where are the scissors?” “There. On the box.”
A landmark makes the brief そこ answer unambiguous.