あれら
あれら
pronoun
those (things or people far from both speaker and listener)
1.
those; those things; those people (at a distance from both speaker and listener)
Plural form of the demonstrative pronoun あれ ('that, over there'). Refers to multiple things or people that are spatially or conceptually distant from both speaker and listener. Relatively uncommon in everyday speech; speakers more often repeat あれ or restate the referent noun. It shows up most in written or slightly formal contexts.
あれらは何ですか。
What are those?
あれらの本は全部父のです。
Those books over there are all my father's.
あれらの出来事は、今になってようやく意味が分かってきた。
Only now am I starting to understand what those events really meant.
Plural of the demonstrative あれ ('that one, over there'), formed with the pluralizing suffix ら. Part of a small set of plural demonstratives: これら (these), それら (those near the listener), あれら (those far from both), どれら (which ones — rare).
Unlike English 'those', Japanese demonstratives are often left singular even when the referent is plural, because context usually makes number clear. あれら therefore sounds slightly marked or emphatic, and in casual speech speakers often prefer あれ or あそこのもの (literally 'the things over there').
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- あれらの人たち: those people (distant, often known to both)
- あれらの出来事: those events (often past, with reflective nuance)
- あれらの商品: those products (over there)
- あれらは全部: those are all ...
DEMONSTRATIVE SERIES (plural):
- これら: these (near speaker)
- それら: those (near listener, or just mentioned)
- あれら: those (far from both, or conceptually distant / from memory)
- どれら: which ones (rare; usually どれ is used instead)
USAGE:
- Written prose, formal speech, and academic writing use plural demonstratives more freely than casual speech.
- In conversation, speakers often say あれ ('that/those') even for plural referents, or repeat the noun: あの本たち is unnatural, but あれらの本 works.
- あれら can also refer to abstract 'those things' from shared memory — past events, experiences, or people known to both.