…の
In Japanese, the English phrase "of" is expressed using the particle …の.
The particle の is used to connect two nouns, where the first noun modifies or possesses the second noun. It can express possession, such as "my book" (私の本) or indicate origin and attributes, such as "Japanese cars" (日本の車). It can also be used to indicate qualities or characteristics, where the first noun describes the latter.
Meaning: possessive genitive: belonging to (prep)
How does it change in a sentence?
When using this particle in a sentence, the structure follows the pattern A の B, which translates to "A's B" or "B of A". Note that this particle only functions to connect nouns.
What mistakes should you avoid?
English speakers often mistakenly try to use の between a verb and a noun. However, it can only be used to connect nouns.
Did you know?
- In casual speech, の can be used as a standalone question marker at the end of a sentence to soften the tone. In this context, it has nothing to do with possession and instead indicates curiosity or a request for explanation.
- The particle の can be used to express 'apposition', meaning it can define what something is. For example, 友人の田中さん means 'Mr. Tanaka, who is my friend', rather than 'the Mr. Tanaka belonging to my friend'.
- Japanese speakers often use の to turn a full phrase into a noun. This allows them to talk about an entire concept, like 'the fact that it is raining', by simply adding の to the end of the clause.
Examples in context
- 彼 の 本His book
- 日本 の 文化Japanese culture
- 私 の 知っている本 の 著者は日本人ですThe author of the book I know is Japanese
- 彼 の 車His car
- 日本 の 首都The capital of Japan
- 友達 の 家A friend's house
Sources
- Wiktionary, “of” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
