Monday, April 15, 2013

noun1 の noun2

Today's topic is another easy one, the particle (no). It is one of the most basic and common particle.

noun1 noun2

- connects two nouns
- acts like a possessive in English ('s)
- main idea is always express at the back (noun2) while the noun1 acts more like a description.
- (no) can also be used multiple times in a sentence

Let's see some examples to understand:

Example:
やましたせんせいくるま。(Yamashita-sensei no kuruma)
 Professor Yamashita's car / A car of Professor Yamashita.
>> Here (no) acts like a possessive. A car belonging to Professor Yamashita.

日本だいがく。(Nihon no daigaku)
 A college in Japan.
>> The main idea is always placed at the back. "College" is the main idea, while Japan acts as a description for the college.

日本じょせい。(Nihon no josei)
 A Japanese woman.
>> Similar with last example, the main idea is about the woman. 
Note: that in English the main idea can be either in front or back while in Japanese it's consistently at the back.

わたしせんせいなまえ。(Watashi no sensei no namae)
 My teacher's name.
>> In this example, (no) is used multiple times. The main idea here is "name" which is at the back.

トムさんかのじょわたしせんぱいです。(Tomu-san no kanojo wa watashi no senpai desu)
 Tom's girlfriend is my senior.
>> Here noun1 の noun2 actually acts like a big noun itself.


Note: What is "Main idea"?
Take for example やまださんのへや (Yamada-san no heya) which means "Yamada's room".
Yamada-san no heya
   : is a room (so its the main idea)
   : is NOT Yamada (thus Yamada is not the main idea)


Vocabulary たんご 

くるま kuruma car
女性 じょせい josei woman, female
名前 なまえ namae name
先輩 せんぱい senpai honorific senior, superior
部屋 へや heya room

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