003: What is a Tengu?

This is where the story starts picking up.

This week we are going to learn about another particle. This particle is in the top three of how commonly it is used. That is the possessive/Connective Particle の. No or のis often attributed to something like the ” ‘s ” in English, but it is important to make sure you do not directly translate particles. Doing so will get you in trouble faster than it will help you.

Below are a number of examples of how No can be used. 

A possesses B. 

ジョーダン　の　じてんしゃ

Jordan’s Bike  

A is a specific type of B. 

ホンダ　の　くるま

Honda Car

 A made B. 

サラ　の　サンドウィッチ

Sara’s Sandwich

A is made of B. 

もくざい　の　ふね

Wooden Ship  

B of A 

にほん　の　たいし

Ambassador of Japan  

In each case you can see that that there is a connection between what is mentioned first and what の connects it too. In lay man’s terms の is used to indicate a connection or relationship between the two things. An important thing to also remember is that の also has another meaning that we will talk about another day. However , for simplicity’s sake, keep in mind that if the particle の is at the end of a sentence it typically means something different which we will talk about again later.