Nanasan no keetai
Functions of particles
The table below lists some particles and their meanings. By attaching these particles to words, the words gain effective functions. With these particles, the word order in Japanese is relatively flexible. Below are some key particles:
| wa | ga | o | ni | e | de | no |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Topic | subject | object | point | direction | place, instrumental | ‘s, of |
“I eat sushi in Tokyo” is expressed as follows.
As there are post-particles after sushi and Tokyo, the word orders are relatively free.
Sushi o Tookyoo de tabemasu.
Tookyoo de sushi o tabemasu.
Particle “no”
In this lesson, you will learn how to connect nouns. In English, this could be expressed with “s” or “of”. In Japanese, “no” is the only word that connects nouns. The owner comes before “no” and the property comes after it or from bigger to smaller. This is the reverse pattern of English. “no” does not connect adjectives and verbs; it basically connects nouns or noun clauses.
BIG, Owner >>> no >>> SMALL, Property
Yuuki’s phone = yuukisan no keitai
My phone = I’s phone = watashi no keitai
The color of my phone = watashi no keitai no iro
The capital city of Japan = Japan’s capital city = nihon no shuto
The name of the capital city of Japan = nihon no shuto no namae
Word
| Word (pronunciation) | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Nana | female name |
| keetai | mobile phone |
| nihon | Japan |
| shuto | capital city |
| kore | this |
| juusho | address |
| yama | mountain |
| shima | island |
| heya | room |
| kareshi | boyfriend |
| kanojo | girlfriend |
| hon | book |
| rekishi | history |
Expressions
nanasan no keetai
nihon no yama
tai no shima
watashi no heya
jasutinsan no kanojo
Kore wa watashino desu.（”watashino” means both my and mine. You can omit things after “no”, if it’s clear to identify. ）
Excercises
Question
- ＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿ (capital city of America)
- ＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿ (book of history, history book)
- ＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿ (book of Japanese hisory = Japan’s history’s book)
- ＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿ (my boyfriend’s address)
Answers
- Amerika no shuto
- rekishi no hon
- Nihon no rekishi no hon
- watashi no kareshi no juusho