Expressing possession with "de"

In Chinese, possession 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. This article highlights 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 lǎoshīmy teacher
• 你 的 手机 nǐ de shǒujī your cell phone
• 我们 的 钱 wǒmen de qiánour money
• 他们 的 东西 tāmen de dōngxitheir stuff
• 爸爸 的 车 bàba de chē dad's car
• 你们 的 菜 nǐmen de càiyour food
• 北京 的 空气 Běijīng de kōngqì Beijing's air
• 公司 的 老板gōngsī de lǎobǎnthe company's boss
• 上海 的 天气 Shànghǎi de tiānqì Shanghai's weather
• 老师 的 朋友 lǎoshī de péngyouteacher's friend

See also

• Expressing close possession
• Modifying nouns with adjective + "de"
• Modifying nouns with phrase + "de"

Sources and further reading

• Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Part 1 (3rd ed) (p. 45) →buy
• New Practical Chinese Reader 1 (新实用汉语课本1) (p. 87) →buy
• New Practical Chinese Reader 1 (新实用汉语课本1)(2nd ed) (pp. 101-2) →buy
• New Practical Chinese Reader 2 (新实用汉语课本2) (pp. 64-5) →buy