のFirst sentences
Linking nouns with の
の joins two nouns so the first describes the second. It covers “my”, “'s”, “of”, and far more.
The idea
A の B: the B that relates to A
The important noun always comes last. 私の本 is “my book”, and 本の私 would be nonsense. The first noun narrows down which one you mean, and context tells you how.
One particle, many jobs
What の can mean
my friend
Whose it is
a Japanese car
Where it's from
a music teacher
What it's about
the summer sky
When it is
my mother's friend's dog
You can chain them. Read from the left.
With other particles
の can follow a particle too
Link a phrase to a noun by adding の after its particle.
the train from Tokyo
a letter to a friend
The second job
の as “one” or “mine”
I like the red one.
After an adjective, の means “one”.
This is Yamada's.
After a noun, you can drop the second noun when it's obvious.
Do you have a cheaper one?
Think about it
Whose cat is it?
Check yourself
What is の doing here?
Put it together
This is my younger brother's bicycle.
Your turn
Does it need の?
It's my older brother.
Say it yourself
Whose is it?
A coworker holds up a blue pen and asks if it's yours. It's actually your friend Sato's.
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