の Particle (Genitive) Japanese Grammar Lesson
Grammar Type: Particle
Essential Meaning: ‘s / Of / In / At / For / By / From
Construction:
- Noun の Noun
- E.g. 私の本 [My book]
- E.g. 自由の女神 [The Statue of Liberty]
- (Noun + Particle) + の Noun
- E.g. 日本での仕事 [A job in Japan]
- E.g. メアリーへのプレゼント [A present for Mary]
Notes:
- の is the genitive case-marking particle. It connects two nouns phrases into one larger noun phrase based on some possessive or attributive relationship (i.e. “X possesses Y” or “X is an attribute of Y“). In many cases, the meaning of の is directly analogous to ” ‘s “ as in “John’s hat” or to the preposition “Of”, as in “The Statue of Liberty”. But keep in mind that there are other usages of の that are not directly analogous to English. A thorough list of relationships that can be expressed with の (Genitive) is provided at the bottom of this page.
- E.g. 隣のトトロ [My Neighbor Totoro] This Ghibli movie title has no direct English equivalent, but it means something to the effect of “Next door’s Totoro”. The の particle conveys the idea that 隣 [Next door] is an attribute of Totoro.
- E.g. 魔法の宅急便 [Kiki’s Delivery Service] This Ghibli movie title has a more literal English equivalent (i.e. “The Witch’s Delivery Service”). There is a possessive relationship between Kiki and the delivery service.
- In the expression Noun 1 の Noun 2, Noun 2 is the main noun and Noun 1 is the modifier. For example, in the sentence クリスの靴下が好きだ [I like Chris’s socks.], the speaker is saying that he likes the socks, which happen to belong to Chris. In other words, 靴下 [Socks] is the main noun under discussion, and the noun クリス [Chris] provides relevant information and context about 靴下.
- Although の (Genitive) typically connects two nouns directly, Noun 1 can sometimes take a case-marking particle such as へ, と, から, で, まで, も, だけ, or ため in addition to の (Genitive). Such structures tend to create attributive prepositional phrases such as “An X for Y“, “An X to Y, “An X at Y“, et cetera. However, the particles は, が, に, and を can NOT be used alongside の (Genitive).
- E.g. 8時からパーティーに行きました。[From 8 o’clock, I headed to the party.] This example expresses that the speaker went to the party at 8, but it does not imply anything about when the party starts.
- E.g. 8時からのパーティーに行きました。 [I went to the party, which started at 8.] The の particle in this example indicates that 8時 is an attribute of the party itself. In other words, the party itself starts at 8, and the time at which the speaker leaves for the party is unknown.
- E.g. 先生との話し合い [A discussion with the teacher] In this example, the prepositional phrase “With the teacher” is a noteworthy attribute of the discussion.
- E.g. 来週までの予定 [Plans until next week] In this example, the prepositional phrase “Until next week” is a noteworthy attribute of the plans.
- E.g. 日本への旅 [A trip to Japan] In this example, the prepositional phrase “To Japan” is a noteworthy attribute of the trip.
- Because Noun 1 の Noun 2 is itself a noun phrase, it can either modify or be modified by another noun phrase using the の particle (i.e. AのBのC). Note that the rightmost noun is always the main noun, and everything to the left serves to describe the main noun.
- E.g. 私の先生の本 [My teacher’s book] In this case there is a possessive relationship between the teacher and the book, and there is a sort of possessive relationship between the speaker and the teacher.
- E.g. 日本語の先生の田中先生 [The Japanese teacher Tanaka-sensei] In this case there is an attributive relationship between “Japanese” and “teacher“, and there is an appositive relationship between “Tanaka-sensei” and “Japanese teacher“. In other words, both “Tanaka-sensei” and “Japanese teacher” refer to the same person in different ways.
- In Noun 1 の Noun 2, Noun 2 can sometimes be omitted if it is very clear from context what the speaker is referring to.
- E.g. A: 誰の本ですか。B: 私の(本)です。[A: Whose book is this? B: It’s mine!] It’s clear from context that the book is the topic of discussion, so speaker B does not need to specify that he or she is referring to the book.
- E.g. このレストランの(ステーキ)はよくありません。[This restaurant’s is not so good.] Without context, this sentence doesn’t make sense. But if we’ve already established steak as the topic of discussion, it’s clear that the speaker is referring to this restaurant’s steak, and it can optionally be omitted.
- Here is a list of relationship types that can be expressed with の:
- (1) A is the owner / possessor of B:
- E.g. 私の本 [My book]
- E.g. 学校の名前 [The school’s name]
- (2) A is the location where B exists:
- E.g. 日本の寺 [The temples in Japan / Japan’s temples]
- E.g. 駅の電話 [The telephone in the station / The station’s telephone]
- (3) B is about A / B has to do with A:
- E.g. 美術の本 [A book about art]
- E.g. 日本語の試験 [A test on Japanese]
- (4) A is a specific type of B / A is a subset of B:
- E.g.桜の花びら[A cherry blossom]
- E.g. 桃の木 [A peach tree]
- E.g. バスの切符 [A bus ticket]
- E.g. 風邪の薬[Cold medicine]
- E.g. 日本語の先生 [A Japanese teacher]
- E.g. 音楽の学生 [A music student]
- E.g. カラーの写真 [A color picture]
- E.g. 絹のドレス [A silk dress]
- E.g. レンガの家 [A brick house]
- (5) A is the creator of B:
- E.g. ピカソの絵 [A Picasso painting]
- E.g. ベートーベンの音楽 [Beethoven’s music]
- E.g. フォードの車 [A Ford car]
- (6) An appositive phrase (i.e. both nouns refer to the same person or thing):
- E.g. 友達の大木さん [My friend Mr. Oki]
- E.g. 医者の森田さん [The doctor Morita-san]
- (7) A relative position, where A is an object and B is a position noun:
- E.g. 屋根の上 [The roof’s top]
- E.g. 僕のそば [My side]
- E.g. 海の下 [The sea’s bottom]
- (1) A is the owner / possessor of B:
Example Sentences:
これは先生の本だ。[This is the teacher’s book.]
これは友達からの手紙だ。[This is a letter from a friend.]
WILD Examples:
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