あの

also: あん

あ

の

Meanings

pre-noun adjectival

usually written using kana alone

Pre-noun adjectival (rentaishi) referring to something distant from both speaker and listener, or a situation unfamiliar to both. Used before a noun to indicate 'that ... over there' or 'that ... we both know about'.

Usage patterns

あの〈人ひと〉that person (over there, known to both speaker and listener)
あの人ひとは私わたしの先せん生せいです。
That person over there is my teacher.
あの〈時とき〉back then; at that time (a time both speaker and listener recall)
あの時ときは本ほん当とうに大たい変へんだったね。
That was really tough, wasn't it, back then?

Grammar

こ・そ・あ・どthis, that, that over there, whichN5

Kanji

彼he, that, the

Opposites

このN5
あの points to something far from both speaker and listener, while この points to something near the speaker.

Don't confuse with

そのN5
あの refers to something distant from both speaker and listener, whereas その refers to something near the listener or already mentioned in conversation.
どのN5
あの points to a specific distant thing, while 何の (どの) is the interrogative form asking 'which one' among a set.

Word family

あのさん
that person (red-light district) · you (archaic honorific)

Written forms

あのUsage100%
Standard kana spelling; the word is usually written in kana.
アノUsage<1%
あんUsage<1%
kana-only spelling
Colloquial or dialectal variant of あの; less common in standard Japanese.
彼あの
rarely-used kanji form
Rarely used kanji form; can be confused with 彼の (かれの, 'his').

Etymology

Derived from the demonstrative あ (a) + genitive particle の (no). The form あん is a contraction of あの.