の (no)
の — possession (“’s / of”) and ‘the one that ～’
Pattern
-
名詞A＋の＋名詞BB belonging to A (先生の本 = the teacher's book) -
い形容詞／名詞＋のstands in for a noun: ‘the ～ one’ (赤いの = the red one)
Joining nouns
A の B shows that B belongs to or is related to A: 先生の本 (the teacher's book), 母のかばん (my mother's bag). The order is the reverse of English ‘of’: owner first, thing second.
‘The ～ one’
When the noun is clear from context, you can drop it and let の stand in: 赤いのがほしいです (I want the red one). This works after い-adjectives and nouns.
Nominalizing
の after a verb turns it into a noun phrase (歌うのが好き, ‘like singing’). You will see this in later grammar points.
Examples
-
これは先生（せんせい）の本（ほん）です。
Kore wa sensei no hon desu.
This is the teacher's book.
先生 (owner) の 本 (thing).
-
これは母（はは）のかばんです。
Kore wa haha no kaban desu.
This is my mother's bag.
母 is used for your own mother when speaking to others.
-
赤（あか）いのがほしいです。
Akai no ga hoshii desu.
I want the red one.
赤いの = 赤いもの; の replaces the noun.
Common mistakes
- Keep the order: owner の thing. 先生の本 is the teacher's book, not 本の先生.
- To mean ‘the ～ one’, a な-adjective needs な + の (きれいなの), not just の.
More grammar points
- は は (wa) — the topic particle
- を を (o) — the object particle
- に に (ni) — time, destination, location
- で で (de) — place of action & means
- と と (to) — and / together with
- の の (no) — possessive & noun linker
- へ へ (e) — direction
- も も (mo) — also / too
- か か (ka) — the question marker
- から から・まで — from … to …
- より より (yori) — than (comparison)
- だけ ～だけ — “only ～”
- で ～で — place, means and cause
- が ～が — marks the subject
- か か — the question particle
- まで ～まで — “until / up to ～”
- も ～も — “also / too”
- なあ ～なあ — sentence-final feeling
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