Possession: の
A の B
A の B = “A's B”. Possession, origin or category: A always describes B.
In short
の links two nouns: “A の B” = “A's B”. As with the English “'s”, the owner comes first: わたしの ほん = “my book” (literally “the book of me”).
- わたしの ほんです。watashi no hon desuIt's my book.
- にほんの くるまnihon no kurumaa Japanese car
- ともだちの なまえtomodachi no namaemy friend's name
The basics
の links two nouns: the first describes the second. A の B = “A's B” or “the B of A”. Like the English possessive “'s”, you start with what describes and end with the thing you're talking about.
- わたしの ほんwatashi no honmy book (word for word: the book of me)
- にほんの くるまnihon no kurumaa Japanese car (from Japan)
Possession, origin, category
の covers much more than possession. It also says where something comes from, what it's about, or what group it belongs to. In every case, A describes B.
| Example | Meaning | Role of の |
|---|---|---|
| せんせいの かさ | the teacher's umbrella | possession |
| フランスの ワイン | French wine | origin |
| にほんごの ほん | a Japanese textbook | subject, content |
| だいがくの せんせい | a university professor | belonging |
Possessive pronouns and の on its own
There's no word for “my” or “your”: you say わたしの, あなたの. When the noun is obvious, you can drop it and keep の on its own: “これは わたしのです”, “it's mine”.
- これは わたしのです。kore wa watashi no desuIt's mine.
- だれの かばんですか。dare no kaban desu kaWhose bag is this?
Common mistakes
- Reversing the order: “ほんの わたし” means nothing, it's わたしの ほん.
- Linking an い-adjective with の: you say おおきい ほん (a big book), never おおきいの ほん.
- Using あなたの all the time: people prefer the person's name, and あなた can sound cold.
5 exercises on this point
Particles to choose, sentences to put back in order, translations: marked straight away, then reviewed at the right time. This JLPT N5 point is on the Hanzomon Line (This, that, who, where) of the Tokyo subway.