Marking Possession

ポケット日本語

The の particle

Marking posession

But first, Revision!

Read the sentence and translate it to Japanese using the boxes. Each box should contain 1 word in hiragana. If your answer is correct, the box will turn green. Once all boxes turn green, a new sentence will appear.

  The の particle is used to mark possession.
 In the most simple of forms, this means to say ‘My pen’ or ‘Ben’s bag’.

 For example:

ジョンRomaji: jonEnglish: JohnClass: KatakanaのRomaji: noEnglish: Posession markerClass: hiraganaペンRomaji: penEnglish: PenClass: katakanaですRomaji: desuEnglish: isClass: hiragana。

It is Jon’s pen.

 For example:

アンナRomaji: annaEnglish: AnnaClass: KatakanaのいぬRomaji: inuEnglish: DogClass: Hiraganaです。

It is Anna’s dog.

It often translates well to an 'apostrophe s' (‘s).

Let’s looks at a few words that don’t become ‘’s’.

  
      わたしのRomaji: watashi noEnglish: MyClass: Hiragana
My
   あなたのRomaji: anata noEnglish: YourClass: Hiragana
Your
      
      かれのRomaji: kare noEnglish: HisClass: Hiragana
His
      かのじょのRomaji: kanojo noEnglish: HerClass: Hiragana
Her

Because ‘I’s’ doesn’t sound quite right…

Translation Button

のですか。

Is it your cat?

のですか。

Is it Leila's Pencil?

のです。

It is the university students book.

Of/ Of the

When ‘s doesn’t sound right…

When ‘s doesn’t sound right, you can try looking at の as ‘of’ or ‘of the’.

私Romaji: watashiEnglish: IClass: Kanjiは日本Romaji: nihonEnglish: JapanClass: Kanji大学Romaji: daigakuEnglish: UniversityClass: Kanjiの学生Romaji: gakuseiEnglish: StudentClass: Kanjiです。

 I am a student of Japan university.

Just a note, if you’re looking at it from an English Language perspective then you’ll need to swap the nouns ‘Japan university’ and ‘Student’ around in your head here!

Bonus Grammar

Noun の Noun

Generally, when a noun is describing a noun, we chuck a の in between.
日本ごの本です。

Nihongo no hon desu。
It is a Japanese book.
This is a rule…

…however there are numerous exceptions you'll have to learn as you go along.
For example:

You say にほんじん for Japanese person, not にほんのじん.
You’ll pick up exceptions by studying and consuming content.

We cover a lot of kanji and grammar in this course so choosing a sustainable pace is always the best option!
Knowing this can make learning easier.

I used to translate things such as eigo no jisho as ‘dictionary of English’, but now I see it as ‘English dictionary’ with a の marking the 'Noun describing a Noun' relationship. This sounds better to me, ‘Dictonary of English’ never flowed well.
I've introduced this rule quite early as it's a point that sometimes gets missed, so don't worry too much if you don't understand how to use it!

Hopefully it will lead to less confussion in the future when you see a の that doesn't appear to be marking possession!
A common problem a lot of my students have is, as Japanese is the first language they've ever studied, they're not used to catagorising 'nouns', 'verbs' and parts of the sentence.

If your in this situation, you'll hopefully find it's a skill you pick up the more you study the language!

One more thing!

Similar to an ‘s in English, we can use の to say “It is Jon’s”, without repeating the noun. For example:

本は先生のですか。

Is it the teacher’s book?

いいえ、私のです。

No, it’s mine.

日本ごの本はレイラのですか。

Is the Japanese book Leila’s?

はい、レイラのです。

Yes, it’s Leila’s.

The の particle

Let’s looks at a few words that don’t become ‘’s’.

Of/ Of the

Bonus Grammar

Noun の Noun

日本ごの本です。

This is a rule…

For example:

You’ll pick up exceptions by studying and consuming content.

Knowing this can make learning easier.

I've introduced this rule quite early as it's a point that sometimes gets missed, so don't worry too much if you don't understand how to use it!

A common problem a lot of my students have is, as Japanese is the first language they've ever studied, they're not used to catagorising 'nouns', 'verbs' and parts of the sentence.

One more thing!