あの

Japanese
Alternative spelling 彼の

Etymology

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

Pronunciation
  • (Tokyo) あの [ànó] (Heiban – [0])
  • IPA(key): [a̠no̞]

Adnominal

あの (rōmaji 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.

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)
Place ここ (koko) そこ (soko) あそこ (asoko)* どこ (doko)
Direction こちら (kochira) そちら (sochira) あちら (achira) どちら (dochira)
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)
* irregular
** regular (long vowel)

Interjection

あの (rōmaji 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).

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