Each no could be an, or might just be erased. Modifier always comes before modified in Japanese, and this order makes sense in English too, so translate each individual item into English to interpret the phrase as is. That particular string of no‘s was easy because there were no “of”s in the English translation, but what if there were? Translating such phrases can be tricky, but here’s a reliable way to go about it.įor the first step, keep the word order intact. わたしのĪnd if you wanted to use any adjectives in there, you certainly could. There’s no limit to the number of no‘s you can have in a single noun phrase. This is equivalent to the English appositive, where one noun is immediately redefined or modified by the following noun. My older sister Lisa (Lisa, who is my older sister) One last use of no that we’ll look at here is where it is used to show one’s relationship to a particular person. This is why we focus on understanding Japanese to English translation: Japanese and English each distinguish different parts of a spectrum of meaning, but while you intuitively know the nuances in English, you need to learn what the Japanese nuances are before you can correctly translate English to Japanese. For example, “in” overlaps with no when we use “in the U.S.” as a modifier, but not when we say “the university is in the U.S.”(Daigaku wa Amerika ni arimasu). But if you were to translate such prepositions into Japanese, they would often, but not always become no. にほんの くるまĪmerican universities (universities in the U.S.)Īlthough again, the most general English translation does not include a preposition. In other cases, no takes the place of different English prepositions. So while “of” is a possible translation of no, it’s not always the best translation. And while “mahou no hon” could be “a book of magic” (filled with spells) or “a magic book” (itself enchanted), the “of” interpretation for no does not exist in every case. Mahou (magic) is a noun, but it’s being used like the adjective magical, which doesn’t exist in Japanese. And often, the English equivalent of isn’t even a noun. You would generally only say “game of baseball” in English in the sense of “the game of baseball” (as opposed to “the game of basketball”), which has a very different meaning. So Japanese uses no where English uses unchanged nouns as modifiers. When you have multiple no modifiers in a row (which we’ll look at below), it’s best not to assume that each no is a reverse “of”, because all to often, the English equivalent doesn’t use the preposition. In this first usage, no is often translated as “of”, but while “of” does indeed translate to no in Japanese, this is a confusing way to think of the particle because the order is exactly the opposite of English. In many cases, no substitutes for English prepositions like “of”, for adjectival forms of nouns, and where you would simply stick two nouns together in English. So its possessive quality is really only one of several related uses. In general, the particle no can turn any noun into a modifier, whether or not the thing in question actually “owns” anything. There are several ways to say “I have” in Japanese, which you’ll learn about when we get to verbs. It’s worth noting that there are also verbs that are possesive in nature, just like “to have” or “to own” in English. This +no pair can also be used as a subject or topic. だれのくるまですか。Īnd as in English, you can omit the actual item that is possessed. Next, question words can also be used with no. So if you’re talking to Tanaka about her book, it’s “Tanaka-san no hon”. わたしのĪgain, you generally should not use anata no for “your”. Possessive pronouns are created in exactly the same way as other possessives. When we get to more difficult cases below, always thinking of no as will help you interpret them correctly. This is extremely important – unlike in English, the last noun is always what the entire noun phrase “is”. So, “Kimura-san no kuruma” is a kuruma, “otoko no seikaku” is seikaku, and “neko no mimi” are mimi. Basically, the no is attached to the preceding noun and turns it into a modifier. In this case it works essentially like possesive in English, and this is a good way to think of it. Nouns, Pronouns, and Plurals “No” as a PossessiveĪs a possessive, no comes between two nouns, after the “possessor” and before the “possessee”. It’s used as the Japanese possessive particle, showing ownership, and more generally, as way to turn any noun into a modifier. The particle の “no” is extremely versatile.
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