Japanese Learning: Sentence expressing ownership “[Pronoun] wa [Person] no [Noun] desu.”

Actually, today’s sentence is the same kind as yesterday.

1. [Pronoun] wa [Noun1] no [Noun2] desu.

Using a word for a person into [Noun1] as below, sentence “1” can express ownership.

2. [Pronoun] wa [Person] no [Noun] desu.

“-no” is a particle, and basically “A no B” in Japanese is “B of A” in English. However, in this case of 2, “A no B” can be understood as “A’s B” in English.

Example;

– Kore wa watashi no Hon desu. (This is my book.)

– Sore wa Satou-san no Jisho desu. (It is Ms. Sato’s dictionary.)

– Are wa Sensei no kuruma desu. (That is (our) teacher’s car.)

There are three pronouns “Kore”, “Sore”, “Are” in the examples above. You need to choose one of three based on spatial positions of the speaker, the listener, and the object.

Practice and remember the conversation below;

A : Sore wa dare no Nohto desuka. (Whose notebook is it?)

B : Kore wa Suzuki-san no Nohto desu. (This is Mr. Suzuki’s notebook.)