A's B (shows possession), B is A
When not a possessive, A is information being added to B
35
彼は日本語の先生です。
He is a Japanese teacher.
0
14
彼は私の兄です。
He is my older brother.
0
15
此れは日本の車じゃないです。
This is not a Japanese car.
0
15
日本の車は高いです。
Japanese cars are expensive.
0
33
私の母は会社員じゃないです。
My mother is not a company employee.
0
6
私の大学には外国人の学生が沢山居ます。
There are many international students in my university.
0
7
貴方の趣味を教えて下さい。
Please tell me what your hobby is.
0
10
お宅の犬は大きいですね。
Your dog is very big.
0
5
私の家の前に湖が有る。
There is a lake in front of my house.
0
1
私の犬の大きさは貴方の犬の半分です。
My dog is almost half the size of yours.
0
13
私の妹は可愛いです。
My sister is pretty.
0
7
私は彼女の腕を取った。
I took her arm.
0
4
自分のステレオを持って居ます。
I have my own stereo set.
0
0
息子が私の部屋へ来た。
My son came to my room.
0
29
彼の靴は茶色だ。
His shoes are brown.
0
5
彼の妻は私の友達の一人だ。
His wife is one of my friends.
2
8
彼の仕事はバスの運転手です。
His job is driving a bus.
0
8
彼の飛行機は未だ飛行場に着いて居ない。
His plane has not arrived at the airport yet.
0
Getting the sentences
List
の
We're going to focus on the particle の.
Its most common use is to mark possession.
That means it helps create the words "my", "your", "her", "their", etc.
わたし の
あなた の
カオちゃん の
This would be "my" ("I" + の).
This would be "my" ("I" + の).
And this is "your" ("you" + の).
You can use any noun, not just pronouns. This would be "Kao-chan's".
わたし の なまえ
It's used in front of nouns, like this!
It's used in front of nouns, like this!
You've got "I" + の + name (なまえ), which is...
"my name"!
わたし の なまえ は カオ です
Now, let's roll this up with the です verb we learned before.
Now, let's roll this up with the です verb we learned before.
If you recall, we used the basic AはBです, or "A is B" structure.
We know the first half is "My name", and the second part has "カオ" (a name).
So, this sentence reads "My name is Kao." (You didn't forget that my name is Kao, right?)
わたし の おとうと は カオ です
カオ は わたし の おとうと です
Let's try this one. We've got わたし の おとうと (← little brother).
Let's try this one. We've got わたし の おとうと (← little brother).
The second part again contains カオ.
That leaves us with "My little brother is Kao."
Now, you can move the possessive to the 2nd half if you'd like.
Were you to translate this, it would be "Kao is my little brother."
きょう の てんき
にほんご の せんせい
There are a few other uses of の that deal with nouns and don't involve possession. Let's look at one of the more common ones.
There are a few other uses of の that deal with nouns and don't involve possession. Let's look at one of the more common ones.
For example, きょう (today) の てんき (weather) is "today's weather". This adds more information to the second noun.
This example is similar. The base noun せんせい (teacher) is changed to "Japanese teacher" when the にほんご の is added.
This one particle の can help you start to expand your writing and speaking.
This one particle の can help you start to expand your writing and speaking.
Construction
(Elements in parentheses are optional.)
Basic Examples:
私の本 (my book)
日本語の先生 (a Japanese teacher)
Where this grammar is found
Grammar usage notes
これは雑誌のカメラです - still grammatically correct, "A camera that belongs to a magazine".
Ok, nobody said that, not even in anime.
Ok, nobody said that, not even in anime.
Questions/Discussion
The example sentence "彼は日本語の先生です。" being possessive seems like a bit of a stretch, it's more descriptive than possessive. 日本語 cannot own or possess things as languages are abstract rather than concrete; and phrasing it as "He is a teacher who belongs to the Japanese language" would sound strange. Rather, I think the の in this sentence is describing what kind of teacher he is -- a Japanese language teacher.
Although it discussed this in the standalone lesson, it was not clear enough on this page, so I've updated the meaning. This can also be used (and is actually more common than the possessive form) to add information to the second noun. I like to call it a specifying tool. So with 先生, it is as ambiguous as can be - it could be referring to any type of teacher. 日本語の takes the "pool" of teachers, and restricts it to "Japanese-language" ones.
I appreciate you bringing this up, so I could align the wording on this page with what exists in the Kao-chan lesson.
I appreciate you bringing this up, so I could align the wording on this page with what exists in the Kao-chan lesson.
it's best to think of it as 'of' in reverse. Mark no pencil is pencil of mark. Nihongo no sensei is teacher OF the Japanese language. Kuroko no basketball- the basketball of kuroko
If it's adding information to the second noun, shouldn't the explanation say that "When not a possessive, A is information being added to B" instead of "When not a possessive, B is information being added to A"? The way it is currently phrased makes it sound like the second noun is giving more information about the first noun which seems like the opposite of what it's supposed to be.
A mistake on my part, thank you. It's been fixed. Once you reply to this, I'll remove my/your posts so we can keep the discussion clean.
Discussion about this grammar
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🌩セージ͎.𝓡_8̯̭̓̇͂卦掌天͓̽𝓚𝓪𝓲𝖙𝖊𝖓⚡
Level: 283
it works! There is not an official limit, but usually you don't see more than 2, maaaybe 3 together.
Thx man!
And also did I mention the doubt in the correct thread?
0
5 months ago
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