SUBJECT (A) PREDICATE (B)

(Thing/person) が (What thing does/is)

That which is marked by が is the

subject of the sentence.
私はアニメが好きだ
Topic = わたし
Subject = アニメ

Unlike English, which is very ego-centric, the subject of a sentence in Japanese is often
an object.

What is A and what is B in this sentence?

Is this sentence an A does B, or is it an A is B?

好き is an adjective meaning pleasing or likeable

It is not a verb like in English “I like anime”

Direct translation: As for me, Anime is pleasing

私は日本語が好きだ
直訳 : As for me, Japanese is pleasing

私は日本語が分かりません
直訳 : As for me, Japanese is not understandable
の　 particle: first function (‘s)
あきの　日本語　の　ほん
Aki’s book
の particle is basically equivalent to the English apostrophe s (‘s)
It expresses ‘belongs to.’

わたしが　アマゾンのあき　です
I am Aki from Amazon (company)
Literally: I am Amazon’s Aki.
• Often の is used to show belonging to a class or category of some
kind
わたしは　ニュージーランドのグラントだ
I am New Zealand’s Grant
More likely saying ‘I am Grant, of the class New Zealand’

の thus has the function of turning nouns into adjectives

Look above, we could take ‘of the class New Zealand’ which functions
as an adjective as it is describing the noun Grant
日本の本　にほんのほん ビールのグラス
Japanese book beer glass

Japan’s book/book that belongs to the class of Japan

Beer’s glass/glass that belongs to the class of Beer

かまくらのものがたり
Kamakura’s story
Story of Kamakura

ロマンスのはなし – romance and conversation are both nouns

Romance’s conversation/romantic conversation
A conversation belonging to the romantic class
の　 particle: second function nominalise
の can also turn a phrase, clause, sentence into a noun

Aki’s book is interesting

あきのほんがおもしろい

Sometimes the subject is implied and can be removed but the が must remain

Person A: Where Aki’s bag? あきのカバンがどこ？

Person B: Aki’s (bag) is here. あきの（かばん）がここ
Invisible object
It’s Japanese New Years, and you go to read your fortune ( おみくじ）

Person A: 　わたしのがよい Mine (my’s) is good

Person B: 　あきのがわるい Aki’s is bad

So here the の is standing in for a thing, it is an invisible object

pronoun.
Nominalising a phrase
Compare the English sentences
‘I like scrolling on FB’ vs ‘FB scrolling is a waste of time’

私はアニメを見るの　が　好きだ
I like watching anime X
As for me, anime watching is pleasing

おんがく　を　きく　の　が　すき　だ

Watching anime an activity made up of the verb ‘watch’ and the noun ‘anime’ is turned
into the noun ‘anime watching’
Remember what we did with the invisible object? We have done the same here too. の is a
pronoun, only we haven’t (yet) made the object it represents invisible.
• 私は ( アニメをみる ) のが好きだ

A is B sentence. A cannot be a verb or action, it needs to be a noun.

So, we turn the verb phrase or action into a noun. Pronouns are a type of noun, and here the
の is the pronoun we use to represent the action.

A is B or A is B (adjective) のは B

What is the subject of the sentence? What is the thing doing or being something?
The thing marked by が !
In the sentence above, のがすきだ = NO is pleasing
What is の standing in for? Anime watching アニメをみる
 HOMEWORK
あきは
日本語（にほんご）をべんきょうするのがたのしい
Topic =
Subject=
Pronoun =

私（わたし）は　わしょく　を　たべる　の　が　すきだ
ほん　を　よむ　
Topic =
Subject=
Pronoun =

あなた　は　おさけ　を　のむ　の　が　すき　です　か？
Topic =
Subject=
あきはドイツにいく　 go to Germany
かいしゃにはいるの　 enter the company
ざっしをよむ read a magazine
あきは（あきが）コーヒーをのむ　 drink coffee

We can change the above nouns to other nouns we know

Example nominalising using の sentence

わたしはあついこうちゃをのむのがきらいだ
I hate drinking hot black tea
Use の to build the sentences on the next page. Use vocab from Udemy N5 L1 and from below

1. Korean university 　　
2. Chinese student Indian friend
3. High school doctor
4. Japanese salaryman
6. I like drinking tasty coffee 　
7. I like drinking cold water
8. I like going to work (lit: going to company)
9. I hate going to America

Answer on next page

1. Korean student かんこくのがくせい
2. Chinese University 　ちゅうごくのだいがく
3. Indian friend 　インドのともだち
4. High school doctor 　こうこうのいしゃ
5. Japanese salaryman 　日本のサラリーマン
6. 　 I like drinking tasty coffee 　
わたしはおいしいコーヒーをのむのがすきだ
7. 　 I like drinking cold water 　
わたしはさむいみずをのむのがすきだ
8. 　 I like going to work (lit: going to company) 　
わたしはかいしゃにいくのがすきだ
9. 　 I hate going to America 　
わたしはアメリカにいくのがきらい