Q: What is the difference between 自分、あなた、あの人、そこの人 and その人? I know that 自分, あなた and あの人 are personal pronouns and その人 is an adjective. Can その人 be used in the place of あの人 or そこの人? When can I use them? A: According to http://www.guidetojapanese.org/learn/grammar/pronouns/4 そこのに used for distance/direction/locality. Ａはそこの学校にいます。 彼はその学校にいます。 I'm in a different school from that school. あの is used to show distance, and あなた to show closeness. Other than that, they all have the same meaning. I'm not sure if there are occasions where you cannot interchange these with その人 though. According to this thread, その人 is not used in a place that has already been mentioned. それはあなたの親父です That is your father, right? No, that is your uncle. I suppose you could use そこの人 instead. A: A difference among those words is that その人 is often more formal, and that あの人 is usually more casual. その人 sounds a bit like the English "that guy", whereas あの人 sounds more like "whoever". 私の部屋にはあの人のほかの子もいます。 This sentence means the same as 私の部屋には、あの人以外にも子がいます。（However, the former one is more casual.) 私はその人とは全く付き合いません。 I don't have any relations with that person at all. Another example of the difference is 「あなたの部屋」(your room) vs 「あなたの部屋にいる」(you're in your room) The former is formal (that is, when you want to avoid using あなた, but still want to sound formal) 一人で客室に行ったが、その人の部屋は何の客であろうか。 And here's one more. あの人 is more casual, like "whoever", but あなたはもういない so あなた is less casual. By the way, 自分 doesn't always mean "me". See this question. A: 自分 is a reflexive pronoun. It refers to the subject (the "self") in contrast to someone else. E.g. 自分の勉強をしながら話す。I'm talking while studying. 私の部屋はきれいである。My room is clean. 一人で行ったが、他の人の自分は知らない。I went by myself, but I don't know about other people's self. 私の部屋はきれいだと思う。I think my room is clean. 他人の部屋と比較して、私の部屋はきれいだと思う。 I think my room is clean compared to other people's room. その人 or あの人 is used to refer to someone whom I know, as opposed to someone I don't know, someone who I don't know, or people in general. E.g. あの人の好きなドラマを見たことがない。I've never watched someone's favorite drama. 私はあなたが友だちとは知らない。I don't know you as a friend. 彼はその人とはうちで知り合いなかった。He didn't know that person. 彼は私とは仕事上のコンビニで知り合いながら、その人ともう会ったことはない。 While we were coworkers at the convenience store, he didn't know the person well enough to become friends. 彼はその人と付き合っている。He's dating that person. 彼はその人と結婚した。He married that person. 彼は彼女と付き合っている。He is dating his girlfriend. 彼女は彼とは付き合っていない。He is not dating his girl-friend. 彼はあの人と付き合っていて、彼女はその人とは付き合っていない。 He is dating that person and his girlfriend is not dating that person.