Expressing possession with "de"

Revision as of 05:35, 24 August 2013 by Parry (talk | contribs)

In Chinese, possession is marked with the particle 的 (de). This particle works in a similar way to 's (apostrophe s) in English, but is used much more widely.

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

  • 啤酒 my beer
  • 葡萄酒 your wine
  • his book
  • 他们 东西 their stuff
  • 小李 手机 Xiao Li's cell phone

See also

Sources and further reading

Books

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