pronoun
The a-series demonstrative pronoun: something distant from both speaker and listener, or something both understand without naming directly.
あれは何ですか。
What is that?
昨日のあれ、もう終わった？
Did you finish that thing from yesterday?
pronoun
Used for a person, typically an equal or inferior; it can sound blunt or overly familiar if used for someone who deserves respect.
あれは昔から頑固なやつだ。
That guy has been stubborn since way back.
pronoun
Temporal use referring back to a known time or event, especially in expressions such as あれから, 'since then.'
あれから十年たった。
Ten years have passed since then.
pronoun
that place; that one over there
Can stand for a distant or indicated place when the place is understood from context; あそこ is the more explicit locative word for 'over there.'
今夜泊まる町は、向こうに見えるあれです。
The town where we will stay tonight is that one you can see over there.
noun
down there; one's genitals
Colloquial euphemism for the genitals, often written アレ to emphasize vagueness or embarrassment.
その男性は「アレが痛い」とぼかして言った。
The man vaguely said, 'It hurts down there.'
noun
Colloquial euphemism for menstruation, often written アレ and used when the speaker does not want to say it directly.
今日はアレだから、プールは休む。
I'm on my period today, so I'll skip swimming.
Rare attested spelling; modern writing normally uses あれ instead.
Rare attested kanji spelling for あれ. It is easily confused with the common word 彼 read かれ, so learners should normally write あれ.
Refers to something near the speaker, while あれ refers to something distant from both speaker and listener or left unnamed.
Refers to something near the listener or just mentioned; あれ points farther away or to shared background knowledge.
The question-word counterpart meaning 'which one?'; あれ is the distant demonstrative answer-like form, 'that one.'
A clearer locative pronoun meaning 'over there'; it can also be euphemistic, but あれ is vaguer and can refer to things, people, times, or places.
The common reading かれ means 'he' or 'boyfriend.' The attested reading あれ for 彼 is rare and should not be confused with this ordinary word.
Native Japanese demonstrative in the こ・そ・あ・ど series. The kanji spellings 彼 and 彼れ are rare conventional spellings for this reading; modern usage normally writes the word in kana.