Grammar Info

N5 Lesson 1: 8/12

のIndicates possession

(A) の (B) = (B) belongs to, or is a quality of (A)

Structure

Noun (A) + の + Noun (B)

Details

  • Particle

  • Case Marking Particle

  • Standard

About の

From the perspective of English, の has several different meanings. It can indicate possession, like putting (A)'s on the end of a word. In Japanese, however, the meaning is a bit broader, and shows that (B) is an attribute/possession of (A).

In the first sentence, we can see that の is showing ownership, however in the second sentence, it is simply showing a relationship between (A) and (B).

の is also often used in the same way as が, to highlight the subject of a statement. Our lesson for が will be covered separately.

Both of these examples are slightly advanced and use adjectives, but don't worry, we will be covering them next!

Caution

の is usually used after nouns, but can also be used after other types of words, specifically when it is transforming them into a noun-like phrase. This is called nominalization in English. We will cover this in detail in the の - Nominalization grammar point.

Topics


Synonyms



Misc.

Vocab Coverage

All Bunpro Vocab that appears on this item.

Examples

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  • あれは私(わたし)のペンです。

    That over there is my pen.

  • これも私(わたし)のペンです。

    This is also my pen.

  • これは私(わたし)の猫(ねこ)です。

    This is my cat.

  • 先生(せんせい)の傘(かさ)です。

    (It) is the teacher's umbrella.

  • あなたの名前(なまえ)は?

    Your name is?

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        • [DBJG] A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar

          Page 312

        • Genki I

          Page 16

        • Genki I 2nd Edition

          Page 44

        • Genki I 3rd Edition

          Page 43

        • Tae Kim's Japanese Grammar Guide

          Page 70

        • みんなの日本語 I

          Page 14 [CH 1]

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      の – Grammar Discussion

      Most Recent Replies (8 in total)

      • DarkConfidant

        DarkConfidant

        I’ve tried searching Bunpro, but cant seem to find the page for the sentence ending の to indicate a question, or the explanatory の that often will be before the copula.

        Sorry for posting this here, but are those gone now, or am I experiencing a bug?
        For example, in casual conversation where I live, I hear の used as a question marker often. Sometimes I just want to double check and restudy grammar like that.

      • Pablunpro

        Pablunpro

        Hi!

        Here you can find the grammar point for んです・のです.

        HTH!

      • kinome

        kinome

        I’m seeing のです but not の or なの as I hear but don’t feel confident with.

        Is there something on Bunpro that covers these?

        For reference, TaeKim mentions it here:

        • 今は忙しいの。
          The thing is that (I’m) busy now.
        • 今は忙しいの?
          Is it that (you) are busy now? (gender-neutral)

        Example 1

        アリス:どこに行くの?

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