Hey all. We use それ for something the person we’re talking to has, and あれ for something away from both of us, correct?

So I break down それ は ひとみさん の くるま じゃありませんでした into:

That (in your possession) – topic particle – Hitomi-san – ownership particle – car – negation – past tense is

i.e. “That (in your possession) was not Hitomi-san’s car”

But if this is past tense, wouldn’t the car be away from us? Because I can’t think of being next to a car and saying “That was not Hitomi’s car”. If the car’s away from me but the other person has it, I still wouldn’t say that. Based on that logic, the sentence should start off with あれ. But I would probably prefer to not trust myself at this stage =P

I’m either overthinking things, or taking translation too literally?

• This topic was modified 11 years, 7 months ago by  pankeki.
• This topic was modified 11 years, 7 months ago by  pankeki.