Use of おく and 方 in this sentence


このたなの一番おくの方にございます。

  * They are at the far end of this shelf.

This is an example sentence from one of my textbooks but I don't understand
what おく means and I'm a bit confused on the use of 方 as well, especially when
looking at the translation.




`奥{おく}` is the part far away from the "entrance" of a thing, so it could be
translated by `bottom` or `back` for example depending of the type of object
(e.g. a vase or a room). Or `end` in the case of a shelf ; it will most likely
refer to the part the farther from the speaker / listener in this case. So
`一番{いちばん}おく` would indeed be the `far end` of the shelf here.

What does `の方{ほう}` add then ?? `の方{ほう}` can indicate a direction, as in
`奥{おく}の方{ほう}へお進{すす}みください` (`please proceed _towards_ the back`), but can also
be used to refer to an area or more generally a thing in a _vague_ manner. I
think the sentence could also be translated to `They are _towards_ the far end
of this shelf`. It doesn't make a big difference though and I guess that's why
it is omitted in your textbook translation. It could also be omitted in
Japanese, `一番{いちばん}おくにございます` is perfectly valid but in this case it really
refers to a precise location and you wouldn't expect to find anything after it
(meaning they're the last items on the shelf).

* * *

Note: `の方{ほう}` being used to refer vaguely to things, leads to some people
abusing it in an attempt to sound less "harsh" (intending to be more polite).
You may hear it a lot in some restaurants for example. It doesn't add any
meaning more than making the statement generally more ambiguous though, and is
considered poor style.




おく means the interior of something but is often used to mean "in the back".
This is the use of 方 (ほう) meaning a direction. So put together you get
something like "toward the deepest" part of the shelf, which you textbook has
chosen to express as the "far end".

