Japanese particles：When and how to use the particle の

Introduction to の

The main use of the Japanese particle の in grammar is to say something about a word with another word. It therefore is also called the modifying noun because it modifies one word using the other. In this way in also indicates possession, for example when you want to say that something is yours. In this case, it can be translated as ‘of’ in English. If you for example want to say, that this is your book you say わたしのほん = my book (わたし = I, mine and ほん = book).

• Main lesson: の modifies one word with another word, for example to indicate possession. Roughly translated, it means ‘of’ in Japanese

Here are some more examples

As you can see in the above two examples, the use of の is slightly different. In both cases, it modifies the second word with the first word. It is not just a desert, but the Chinese one and this is not just a dog, it’s Sara’s dog. But in the first example, it also indicates possession. In the example below it also indicates where something comes from. 

Letting the second noun out of it

As often in Japanese, you can let things out that should be clear from context. For example, if you are in the office and someone point and asks whose computer this is you can say: わたしのです (This is mine). 

Some more examples of the use of の