Lesson 6

Hello again, and sorry for not posting anything the last few days, but my schedule was hectic. Hope you've been practicing in the meantime, and you're ready learn more. Today's lesson is going to be pretty easy again(compared to the writing systems, what isn't? - then again, just wait 'till the kanji). Anyway, today the spotlight falls on the possession indicator - "no"(not the Enligsh nou-, this is pronounced as the No in November).

Watashi no hon desu.
It's my book. (hon - book)

When you put no after I, you, he, she, etc. , as in watashi no, you get my/mine, your/yours, his, etc. Since "It's my book." sound weird, I'm going to give you the word for this as well.

Kore wa watashi no hon desu.
This is my book. (kore-this).

Now it sounds better. When you put This in the sentence it becomes its topic(you're talking about this, and not something else), and as such is is followed by a topic marker, wa.

No can be put not only after pronouns, but after inanimate obects as well:

Nihon-Ginkou no Tanaka desu.
I am Tanaka from the Bank of Japan.(Nihon-Japan; ginkou - bank)

Here the no shows that Tanaka "belongs" to the Bank of Japan, as an employee, which is English is translated as "from the Bank of Japan", instead of "the Bank of Japan's".

That pretty much sums up the use of  the possession indicator "no".


New vocabulary in today's lesson:
no - possesion indicator
hon - book
kore - this
Nihon - Japan
ginkou - bank