Expressing possession with "de"

Revision as of 17:39, 1 October 2014 by Noemi (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

  • 老师 de lǎoshīmy teacher
  • 啤酒 de píjiǔyour beer
  • de shūhis book
  • 他们 东西 Tāmen de dōngxītheir stuff
  • 小李 手机 小李 手机Xiao Li's cell phone
  • 我们 Wǒmen de cháour tea
  • 我 家 小狗Wǒjiā de xiǎo gǒumy family's puppy
  • 公司 老板Gōngsī de lǎobǎnthe company's boss
  • 上海 美女Shànghǎi de měinǚShanghai's beautiful women
  • 美女 朋友Měinǚ de péngyǒuthe beautiful woman's friend

See also

Sources and further reading