日: 2026年1月12日

Japanese sentences are classified in three by the type of predicates;

1. Noun predicate sentences

2. Adjective predicate sentences (I-adjectives and Na-adjectives)

3. Verb predicate sentences

So far, we have only learned “1. Noun predicate sentences”. Review one of noun predicate sentences that is using particle “-no” as below;

4. [Noun1] wa [Noun2] no [Noun3] desu.

Example;

5. Watashi wa Niigata Daigaku no Gakusei desu. (I am a student of Niigata University)

-Watashi : personal pronoun ( I )

-wa : particle ; topic marker, and in this case, also subject marker

-Niigata Daigaku : proper noun (Niigata University) ; this modifies “Gakusei (student)” to limit the range of meaning of student.

-no : particle ; “A no B” in Japanese is like “B of A” in English

-Gakusei : noun (a student/students)

5. is a sentence with the construction of 4., and also described as below;

5’. [Person] wa [modifier] no [Noun describing types of people] desu.

But the sentence construction 4. has more variations. In addition to sentences about person/people, let’s take a look at sentences about things.

6. Kore wa Nihongo no Jisho desu. (This is a dictionary of Japanese.)

You know three pronouns “Kore”, “Sore”, and “Are”. You need to choose one of three based on spatial positions of the speaker, the listener, and the object. Suppose that both the speaker and the listener are close to the object for the following conversation.

A : Kore wa Nan desuka. (What is this?)

B : Kore wa Nihon no Ringo desu. (This is an apple of Japan)