A's B (shows possession)
17
彼は日本語の先生です。
He is a Japanese teacher.
9
彼は私の兄です。
He is my older brother.
8
これは日本の車じゃないです。
This is not a Japanese car.
5
日本の車は高いです。
Japanese cars are expensive.
10
私の母は会社員じゃないです。
My mother is not a company employee.
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
User notes
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