What does it mean word for word?
The phrase breaks down as follows: kore means "this". watashi no is a combination of the pronoun watashi ("I") and the possessive particle no ("of"), together meaning "my". And neko means "cat". The sentence concludes with desu, a copula verb used to establish a statement.
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
You can use an informal or blunt tone by replacing desu with da, as in これは私の猫だ. Additionally, while watashi is a standard way to say "I", one might use the masculine informal pronoun ore in casual settings.
How does it change in a sentence?
Using the particle ga instead of wa can be done to highlight that a particular subject is the specific one being discussed. To indicate possession, the particle no is added to a pronoun, such as watashi no to mean "my".
How do you pronounce it?
kore wa watashi no neko desu
Did you know?
- In Japanese, the word for 'cat', neko, is often used in onomatopoeia, but instead of the English 'meow', Japanese people use nyan to mimic the sound.
- While neko means 'cat', the word neko can be used in a slang term neko-kaburi to describe someone who is pretending to be innocent or shy.
- The word kore is part of a three-way system of proximity: kore for things near the speaker, sore for things near the listener and are for things far from both.
Examples in context
- これは私の猫です。This is my cat.Tatoeba #757782 by arihato, translation #712344 by papabear
- こいつが俺の猫だ。This guy is my cat.
- 見て、これは私の猫です。Mite, kore wa watashi no neko desu.Look, this is my cat.
Example conversation
Misaki shows a photo of her cat to Ren.
- 美咲 Misaki蓮さん、見てください。Ren-san, mite kudasai.Ren, please look.
- 蓮 Renかわいいですね！Kawaii desu ne!It's cute!
- 美咲 Misakiありがとうございます。これは私の猫です。Arigatou gozaimasu. Kore wa watashi no neko desu.Thank you. This is my cat.
- 蓮 Renとても可愛い猫ですね。Totemo kawaii neko desu ne.It is a very cute cat.
Sources
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
