Stop dancing like that. it looks like あっち is a dog but your teacher is wrong. and in fact it is a horse. So if you are a horse, sit おもう and get on your feet please! *Note: If you have seen a horse on the road on a sunny day, you can be sure it is not あっち. Exercise: Listen to some あっち. For example (1) あっちがいる あっちがつく and (2) あっちが行きました。 What's the Difference Between あっち and そっち Listen to the sentence: 彼 は うち に き いて いた。 If you try to understand what the speaker is saying in the sentence above, it is hard to say whether the speaker is at home あっち or his/her/etc. hometown そっち. You need the other two words to understand the sentence. Both あっち and そっち are counter for "from here, from there." However, they have different tones. You can hear あっち slightly higher than そっち. You can listen to the audio to get a feeling of the differences between them. Exercise: Listen to both of them with the audio. Do they sound different? Make a point to point out the difference and practice your skills on the audio. あっち is more common and it means "at a distance." So it means "from here" in the above sentence. If you said そっち, it would be hard to understand what the sentence was saying. On the other hand, そっち sounds more formal and polite. Also, it is less likely to use with yourself than あっち. It is usually used in a business letter or a polite reply. However, そっち is very common in the written form such as the place names. Exercise: Listen to the following pairs of places with the audio. Pay attention to the different tones between あっち and そっち. ここ is on your side of the train. (a) ここは東京です。 ここ is on the other side of the train. (b) ここは東京です。 Here and in the following example, ここ is on the other side of the train as it is shown with あっち. It is hard to know which one is the right answer, ここ or そっち. However, it is easier to answer with ここ in this case as ここ is a location, not a place you have visited. If you know which one is the right answer, you will be able to answer easier in a similar case in the future. Exercise: Listen to the following pairs of places with the audio. Pay attention to the different tones between あっち and そっち. どこ is on your side of the train. (a) どこは東京です。 どこ is on the other side of the train. (b) どこは東京です。 どこ and あっち is similar to ここ and あっち in that どこ refers to the location of where you are talking about. If you have traveled to a different place, however, it is likely どこ will be used. It is hard to know which one is the right answer, どこ or そっち. But if you were at home, you can say どこ to express "this is where I live." You can see how common Japanese locatives are in the form of そっち, どこ, and あっち. Exercise: listen to the following pairs of places with the audio. Pay attention to the different tones between あっち and そっち. この人は東京の人です。 This person is from Tokyo. この人は東京です。 This person is from Tokyo. この場所は東京です。 This place is from Tokyo. According to the sentence above, we cannot know whether the speaker is at あっち or そっち. We have to look at the form of あっち and そっち before judging. If a person is from a distant place, you can say この人は東京の人です。 In this case, この人 is from Tokyo and 東京 is from あっち. If a place is from a distant place, you can say この場所は東京です。 In this case, この場所 is from Tokyo and 東京 is from あっち. Exercise: Listen to the following pairs of places with the audio. Pay attention to the different tones between あっち and そっち. この人は東京です。 This person is from あっち. この人は東京の人です。 This person is from どこ. この場所は東京です。 This place is from あっち. These are all locations, not places you have been to, right? The most common sentences that use あっち are (1) あっちがあった and (2) あっちを行きました. Both of them can be used when someone is talking about a trip from his/her hometown. Exercise: Listen to the following pairs of sentences. Pay attention to the different tones between あっち and そっち. あっちはどこがあったかという話をしました。 They were talking about what location they were before. あっちはどこでしたかという話をしました。 They were talking about what place they were before. Exercise: Listen to the following sentences. Pay attention to the different tones between あっち and そっち. あっちはどこにいますか? (How are you?) あっちはどこに行きますか? (Where are you going?) Exercise: Listen to the following sentences. Pay attention to the different tones between あっち and そっち. あっちはどこでしたか? (What place were you at?) あっちはどこから来たか? (How did you come?) The next step to say a longer sentence あっちを行きました would be あっちが行きました。 Exercise: Listen to the following pairs of sentences. Pay attention to the different tones between あっち and そっち. あっちはどこに行きましたか? What place did you go? あっちはどこがあったかという話をしました。 They were talking about what location they were before. あっちはどこで行きましたか? Where did you go? あっちはどこでしたかという話をしました。 They were talking about what place they were before. Exercise: Listen to the following sentences. Pay attention to the different tones between あっち and そっち. あっちはどこにいますか? How are you? あっちはどこに行きましたか? Where are you going? あっちはどこでしたか？ What place did you go? You can see that あっち and そっち share the meaning "from here, from there." They are similar to each other but have different tones and forms. Let's hear the difference between あっち and そっち in the next section. What's the Difference Between あっち and そっち Tones There are three tones you can hear from あっち and そっち. One is a loud tone, another is a high tone, and the third is a low tone. It is possible for a listener to understand the speaker without understanding the difference. You just need to be aware that there is a different tone between them. One of the biggest differences between them is the loud tone. あっち is loud and そっち is softer. However, that is not the only difference you can hear. In the above example, the speaker is talking about moving to a certain place from his/her hometown, あっち. You can see that his/her voice is loud. However, the last example says あっち, a place that is close by そっち. The speaker is also talking about moving to a certain place そっち from あっち. In this case, his/her voice is a bit soft. In summary, the speaker's tone is not always loud, especially in a distant place. In a very close place, the speaker might speak a bit