At a glance
こちら is the polite word for "this way", "here", "this person" or "this one", near the speaker. It is used in introductions, with customers, and when speaking politely.
こちら は [Person] です。
[Place / Thing] は こちら です。
こちらは田中さんです。 This is Mr./Ms. Tanaka.
How to form it
こちら is a noun, so it takes particles like は, へ, を and の.
| Use | Pattern | Example | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| This person | こちらは + person + です | こちらは山田さんです。 | This is Mr./Ms. Yamada. |
| Here / this way | Noun + はこちらです | お手洗いはこちらです。 | The restroom is this way. |
| Direction | こちらへ | こちらへどうぞ。 | This way, please. |
| This one | こちらは + question | こちらはいかがですか。 | How about this one? |
| This + noun | こちらの + noun | こちらのかばんはいくらですか。 | How much is this bag? |
こちら belongs to the こ・そ・あ・ど series:
| Polite | Casual | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| こちら | こっち | this way / here (near me) |
| そちら | そっち | that way / there (near you) |
| あちら | あっち | that way over there (away from both) |
| どちら | どっち | which way / which one |