あの

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Japanese

Alternative spelling
彼の

Etymology

Originally a compound of あ (a, distal pronominal marker) +‎ の (no, genitive particle).

Pronunciation

Adnominal

あの • (ano) 

  1. (deictically) that ... over there (far from the speaker and the addressee)
    あの車(くるま)は緑(みどり)です。
    Ano kuruma wa midori desu.
    That car over there is green.
  2. (anaphorically) that ... we both know (both the speaker and the addressee know)

Usage notes

  • As an adnominal, あの must be followed by a noun or noun phrase.
  • あの is also used to refer to things and experiences that both the speaker and the listener have knowledge of. Compare the two following sentences,
    あの本(ほん)はやすいですか？
    Ano hon wa yasui desu ka?
    Is that book (over there, which you and I can see) cheap?
    その本(ほん)はやすいですか？
    Sono hon wa yasui desu ka?
    Is that book (I'm pointing to/near you/of yours) cheap? / Is that book which you (have/saw/were talking about) cheap?
  • The hiragana spelling (あの) is preferred to the kanji spelling (彼の), which is rarely used.

Related terms

See also

Japanese demonstratives
ko-
“this”
(close to speaker) 		so-
“that”
(close to listener) 		a-
“that over there”
(far from both) 		do-
“which”
(indeterminate, question)
Object これ (kore) それ (sore) あれ (are) どれ (dore)
これら (korera) それら (sorera) あれら (arera) —
Determiner この (kono) その (sono) あの (ano) どの (dono)
これらの (korera no) それらの (sorera no) あれらの (arera no) —
Kind こんな (konna) そんな (sonna) あんな (anna) どんな (donna)
こういう (kō iu) そういう (sō iu) ああいう (ā iu) どういう (dō iu)
Place ここ (koko) そこ (soko) あそこ (asoko)* どこ (doko)
こっから (kokkara) そっから (sokkara) — どっから (dokkara)
Direction / Human こちら (kochira) そちら (sochira) あちら (achira) どちら (dochira)
こなた (konata) そなた (sonata) あなた (anata) どなた (donata)
Direction こっち (kotchi) そっち (sotchi) あっち (atchi) どっち (dotchi)
Human こいつ (koitsu) そいつ (soitsu) あいつ (aitsu) どいつ (doitsu)
Manner こう (kō) そう (sō) ああ (ā)** どう (dō)
Degree これくらい (kore kurai) それくらい (sore kurai) あれくらい (are kurai) どれくらい (dore kurai)
これだけ (kore dake) それだけ (sore dake) あれだけ (are dake) どれだけ (dore dake)
これほど (kore hodo) それほど (sore hodo) あれほど (are hodo) どれほど (dore hodo)
* irregular
** regular (long vowel)
The kanji 此(こ) (ko), 其(そ) (so), 彼(あ) (a), and 何(ど) (do) can be used for determiners, but they are almost always spelled in hiragana.

Interjection

あの • (ano) 

  1. similar to English er or umm, said when hesitating in speech
  2. similar to English uh, space filler or pause during conversation
    あの…そうですね、…
    ano…sō desu ne,…
    um... well, yes,...

Usage notes

The の (no) sound is often lengthened as in あのう, あのぉ, あのー (anō).

Related terms

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