GRAMMAR DETAIL

あそこ

over there

Directly indicates a place far from both speaker and listener.

Examples

あそこが私たちの学校です。

Our school is over there.

あそこに見える山は富士山です。

The mountain visible over there is Mount Fuji.

あそこに新しい薬局があります。

There is a new pharmacy over there.

Structure: あそこ directly refers to a place; a following particle marks its role in the sentence.
Basic usage: It points to a place away from both participants in the conversation.
- あそこに新しい薬局があります。 says that a new pharmacy is located over there.

Location of existence or activity
- In あそこに薬局がある, に marks where the pharmacy is; in あそこで待つ, で marks where the activity of waiting takes place.
Distance compared with そこ
- The basic choice is そこ for a place beside the listener and あそこ for a place away from both people. Whether the two participants are standing together or apart also affects the interpretation of distance.