2.7: Lesson 1 Grammar - Expressing Belonging with 的 (de)
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In Chinese, belonging is marked with the particle 的 (de), placed after the "owner" noun or noun phrase. This particle works in a similar way to apostrophe-"s" in English, but is used much more broadly in Chinese. Here I'll highlight just one of its simplest and most common usages.
Structure
Noun 1 + 的 + Noun 2
This means "Noun 1's Noun 2" (where Noun 2 belongs to Noun 1).
The structure is super simple. It will take a bit of time before you realize how truly universal this pattern is. It doesn't matter whether the "Noun 1" is a person, place, or thing, or even if it's a pronoun ( like "he," "she," or "it"). The structure stays consistent.
Examples
- 我的老师
wǒ de lǎoshī
my teacher
- 你的手机
nǐ de shǒujī
your cell phone
- 我们的钱
wǒmen de qián
our money
- 他们的东西
tāmen de dōngxi
their stuff
- 爸爸的车
bàba de chē
dad's car
- 你们的菜
nǐmen de cài
your food
- 北京的空气
Běijīng de kōngqì
Beijing's air
- 公司的老板
gōngsī de lǎobǎn
the company's boss
- 上海的天气
Shànghǎi de tiānqì
Shanghai's weather
- 老师的朋友
lǎoshī de péngyou
teacher's friend
[adapted from AllSet Learning Chinese Grammar Wiki, Creative Commons License BY-NC-SA 3.0]
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Any Questions?
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