Forum Rocket Japanese Japanese Grammar あちらのビル vs. あのビル

あちらのビル vs. あのビル

イ リ ニ

イ リ ニ

January 15, 2021

Hello!

I'm really confused by the use of the “no” particle when I compare the following two sentences:

 

That building over there is famous

Achira no biru wa yūmē desu /  あちらのビルは有名です

That building over there is tall                     

Ano biru wa takai desu / あのビルは高いです

 

Both sentences are pretty much identical in structure.  Why would the polite demonstrative require the の particle, but the regular あの demonstrative not?

Thank you!!!

Emma-Rocket-Japanese-Tutor

Emma-Rocket-Japanese-Tutor

January 21, 2021

こんにちは (Konnichiwa) イ リ ニ,

Good question!
There is a very simple explanation for this: あの is an adjective and あちら is a noun. 

As you know, we can add adjectives in front of verbs to describe them, like あのビル "that building over there."
Since あちら is a noun, we need to add the modifier particle の (no) first to attach it to a noun. For example, あちらのビル (achira no biru) "That building over there." 

I hope this helped. Please let me know if you have any more questions!
勉強を頑張ってください！ (Benkyō o ganbatte kudasai!)
イ リ ニ

イ リ ニ

January 21, 2021

Oh, that makes perfect sense!  Now it seems so obvious.  Sometimes I just miss the forest for the trees :-)  Thanks SO much!

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