これ

pronoun

this person

Used to refer to someone in the speaker's in-group, often in a familiar or humble way. Not used for superiors or out-group members.

• これがうちの息子むすこです。

  This is my son.

pronoun

now; this point in time

Appears in fixed expressions like これから (from now on) and これまで (until now). Not used as a standalone temporal pronoun.

• これから会かい議ぎを始はじめます。

  We will start the meeting now.

• これまでお世せ話わになりました。

  Thank you for everything up to now.

pronoun

here

Dated usage; modern Japanese normally uses ここ for 'here'.

• 昔むかしの文ぶん語ごでは「これに」が「ここに」の意い味みで使つかわれた。

  In old literary language, これに was used to mean 'here'.

adverb

this (emphatic)

Formal or literary use; stresses the subject of a sentence, often in the pattern これは or これが. Not common in everyday speech.

• これが現げん実じつというものだ。

  This is what reality is.

pronoun

I; me

Archaic first-person pronoun; not used in modern Japanese outside of historical or stylized contexts.

• 古こ文ぶんでは「これ」が一いち人にん称しょうとして使つかわれることがある。

  In classical Japanese, これ is sometimes used as a first-person pronoun.