あの

Japanese

Alternative spelling
彼の

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

あの • (ano)

(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.
(anaphorically) that ... we both know (both the speaker and the addressee know)

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.

	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)
Object	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)
Determiner	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)
Kind	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)
Place	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)
Direction / Human	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) † potentially rude or derogatory

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.

あの • (ano)

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

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