Grammar · Particles

の, of and 's

The pattern

[A] の [B]

[A] no [B]

の links two nouns, with the owner or category first. It covers English 's, 'of', and simply putting one noun in front of another.

The mistake to avoid

The order is the reverse of English 'of'. 日本の車 is a car of Japan, so a Japanese car.

Examples

Rōmaji help

私の本

わたしのほん

watashi no hon

my book

日本語の先生

にほんごのせんせい

nihongo no sensei

a Japanese teacher

友達の車

ともだちのくるま

tomodachi no kuruma

my friend's car

東京の大学

とうきょうのだいがく

tōkyō no daigaku

a university in Tokyo