Japanese with Manga

This rabbit with これ

Vocabulary Explanation: This with これ

Manga panel from ご注文はうさぎですか？ showing example of This rabbit with これ.
ご注文はうさぎですか？ » Volume 1 » Page 10

Cocoa stops by the coffee shop “Rabbit House” to rest. When she notices something shaggy sitting atop the Chino, the barista, Chino explains:

チノ:
「これですか？　これはティッピーです　一応(いちおう)うさぎです」
“Do you mean this? This is Tippy. It's sort of a rabbit.”

Key Points

1これ points to something near the speaker
  • In this scene, これ refers to Tippy, the rabbit-like thing sitting atop Chino’s head.
  • Chino is the speaker, so これ fits better than それ or あれ because the thing being identified is in her immediate space.
2First これ asks what Cocoa is talking about
  • これですか？ means “Do you mean this?” or “This?”
  • The pronoun is enough because the object is visible in the panel; Japanese does not need a noun like “rabbit” yet.
3Second これ introduces Tippy
  • これはティッピーです uses これ as the topic: “as for this, it is Tippy.”
  • The name comes after は, so Chino is identifying the thing Cocoa noticed.
4一応(いちおう) softens “rabbit”
  • 一応(いちおう)うさぎです means Tippy counts as a rabbit, at least technically or sort of.
ご注文はうさぎですか？ © its respective creators. It is used here for educational commentary.