Used to emphasize or highlight a particular thing or person, often translated as 'indeed' or 'surely'. It is used to bring strong emphasis to the word or phrase before it.
Personalized Lesson For You!
Key Formation
Noun + こそ
君こそが特別だ。 (You are indeed special.)
Verb + こそ
行けることこそ、大切だ。 (Being able to go is indeed important.)
しか (shika) - (N3 - N2) - Both こそ (koso) and しか (shika) are used for emphasis, but しか (shika) is used to express 'only' or 'nothing but'.
ばかり (bakari) - (N4 - N3) - While both こそ (koso) and ばかり (bakari) can express emphasis, ばかり (bakari) is used to indicate something restricted to a certain state or situation.
さえ (sae) - (N4 - N3) - さえ (sae) is used to express the minimum requirement or a surprising example. It can be used similarly to こそ (koso) for emphasizing a specific thing or person.
Useful Vocabulary that appeared in this page
* 私 (わたし)I/me
* 事件 (じけん)incident
* 真犯人 (しんはんにん)real culprit
* 思い (おもい)thought
* 原動力 (げんどうりょく)driving force
* 知識 (ちしき)knowledge
* 力 (ちから)power
* 努力 (どりょく)effort
* 成功 (せいこう)success
* 鍵 (かぎ)key
* 友達 (ともだち)friend
* 大切 (たいせつ)valuable
* 財産 (ざいさん)asset
Quiz
Which of the following means 'I am indeed the one who did it'?
