N5 · The basic sentence
の between two nouns
the linking particle の
A の B: the B that belongs to, comes from or is a kind of A — always in that order.
の joins two nouns into one. The second noun is the main one; the first tells you which one it is. 私の本 is "my book", 日本の車 "a Japanese car", 日本語の先生 "a teacher of Japanese". The order is the reverse of the English "of": "the capital of Japan" is 日本の首都, Japan first.
The relation can be almost anything that "of", "'s", "from", "in" or "about" would express in English: possession (田中さんの車), origin (フランスのワイン), content (歴史の本), position (机の上), time (朝の電車), and even two names for the same person: 友達の田中さん is "my friend Tanaka".
Links can be chained, always with the main noun last: 東京の大学の先生 is "a teacher at a university in Tokyo". When the second noun is obvious it can be dropped, and の alone then means "the one belonging to": 私の is "mine". Japanese has no separate possessive words like "my" or "his"; it uses the person plus の.
English speakers go wrong in two ways. They reverse the order, following "the book of the teacher". And they put の between an adjective and a noun. An i-adjective joins its noun directly — 高い車 — and a na-adjective takes な; の is for nouns.
The form
| my book | 私の本 |
| Mr Tanaka's car | 田中さんの車 |
| a Japanese car | 日本の車 |
| a teacher of Japanese | 日本語の先生 |
| on the desk | 机の上 |
| the morning train | 朝の電車 |
| my friend Tanaka | 友達の田中さん |
| mine | 私の |
| a teacher at a university in Tokyo | 東京の大学の先生 |
The rules one by one
In A の B the main noun is B; A tells you which B.
これは私の傘です。This is my umbrella.
The order is the reverse of the English "B of A".
これは日本の地図です。This is a map of Japan.
の can show possession, origin, content, position or time.
机の上に日本語の辞書があります。There is a Japanese dictionary on the desk.
When the second noun is obvious it can be left out, so A の means "the one of A".
この傘は私のです。This umbrella is mine.
An i-adjective goes straight before a noun, without の.
新しい車を買いました。I bought a new car.
A closer look
One particle for many English words
Because の covers "of", "'s", "from", "in", "at" and "about", a single phrase can be ambiguous. 田中さんの写真 can be a photo Mr Tanaka owns, one he took, or one of him. Japanese lives with this comfortably, because the situation nearly always decides, and spells it out only when it has to.
Long chains are normal and are read from the back: 日本の歴史の本 is a book; what kind of book? about history; what history? Japan's. Reading from the last noun backwards turns even a long chain into a sequence of simple questions.
Exceptions and special cases (1)
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the first word is a na-adjective
it takes な, not の: 静かな町.
静かな町に住んでいます。I live in a quiet town.
Na-adjectives look like nouns, but they describe a quality, and that is marked by な. A few words that feel like adjectives, such as 病気, are nouns and take の.
How to spot it
- の
- 私の
- 〜の上
- だれの
Example sentences
田中さんの車は白いです。Mr Tanaka's car is white.
姉は英語の先生です。My older sister is an English teacher.
これはフランスのワインです。This is French wine.
駅の前で待っています。I will be waiting in front of the station.
友達のマリアさんはブラジルから来ました。My friend Maria came from Brazil.
朝の電車はとても混んでいます。The morning trains are very crowded.
8 more example sentences
会社の電話番号を教えてください。Please tell me the company's phone number.
夏休みの宿題が多いです。There is a lot of homework for the summer holidays.
それは山田さんのですか。Is that Mr Yamada's?
日本の夏は暑いです。Summer in Japan is hot.
机の下に猫がいます。There is a cat under the desk.
母の料理が一番好きです。I like my mother's cooking best.
東京の大学の先生に会いました。I met a lecturer from a university in Tokyo.
車のかぎが見つかりません。I cannot find the car keys.
Worth knowing (2)
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の for "my sister, Hanako"
When the two nouns are the same person, の joins them as English joins them with a comma: the relation first, then the name. It is the standard way of introducing a family member or a friend.
妹の花子です。This is my younger sister, Hanako.
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の as "the one"
After an adjective, の can stand for a noun that both people have in mind, like English "one". In a shop, pointing at a row of cups, 赤いの is "the red one".
赤いのをください。The red one, please.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
English "an umbrella of mine" puts the umbrella first. In Japanese the owner comes first and the thing owned last, because the last noun is always the one the phrase is about. 傘の私 would be "the me of the umbrella".
The noun after の is the main one: A の B is the B of A.
Your turn
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