134 Part II: Japanese in Action You use tonari (toh-nah-ree) (next to) only if you’re dealing with two similar things like two buildings, two people, or two seats. For two different things that are close to each other, you use yoko (yoh-koh) to express next to. For example, if you want to say There is a police officer next to the museum. in Japanese, say Keisatsukan ga hakubutsukan no yoko ni imasu. (kehh-sahtsoo-kahn gah hah-koo-boo-tsoo-kahn noh yoh-koh nee ee-mah-soo.) You can’t use one of the position words in Table 8-2 all by itself to describe the location of something. If you say My house is on the left, no one will understand you. You have to indicate what your house is to the left of as a reference point. Use the particle no to create a modifier phrase that gives the reference point, and place it right before one of the position words from Table 8-2. For example, ginkō no hidari means the bank’s left, or to the left of the bank. Remember: The position aida (between) requires two reference points; connect them with the particle to. The following phrases put some of these modifiers in context: 図書館は学校の後ろです。 Toshokan wa gakkō no ushiro desu. (tohshoh-kahn wah gahk-kohh noh oo-shee-roh deh-soo.) (The library is behind the school.) 郵便局は図書館と市役所の間です。 Yūbinkyoku wa toshokan to shiyakusho no aida desu. (yooo-been-kyoh-koo wah toh-shoh-kahn toh shee-yah-koo-shoh noh ah-ee-dah deh-soo.) (The post office is between the library and the city hall.) 学校は病院の前です。 Gakkō wa byōin no mae desu. (gah-kohh wah byohh-een noh mah-eh deh-soo.) (The school is in front of the hospital.) 銀行は病院の隣です。 Ginkō wa byōin no tonari desu. (geen-kohh wah byohh-een noh toh-nah-ree deh-soo.) (The bank is next to the gas station.) Specifying how far or how near you are to a location is often very helpful information. The word for far is tōi (tohh-ee), and the word for near is chikai (chee-kah-ee). To be more informative, you can use adverbs such as chotto (choht-toh) (a little bit), sugu (soo-goo) (right, just), or totemo (toh-teh-moh) (very much). Take a look at these examples: ちょっと遠いですよ。 Chotto tōi desu yo. (choht-toh tohh-ee deh-soo yoh.) (It’s a bit far.) すぐそこです。 Sugu soko desu. (soo-goo soh-koh deh-soo.) (It’s right there.) とても近いです。 Totemo chikai desu. (toh-teh-moh chee-kah-ee dehsoo.) (It’s very close.)