Hi. I would like to ask when and how とand の are used in a sentence? Thank you.
They’ve both got several uses. The main use you’ll probably see, though is と means “and”, but is only used for lists of nouns, while の indicates ownership, same as 's in English.
Thank you
と Has a lot of uses
It’s first use is to list a complete list of nouns:
車とバイクがほしい —> I want a car and bike
It is used to quote things. Put と After a direct or indirect quote. This is also used for thoughts
「車とバイクがほしい」と言った —> They said “I want a car and bike”
It can be used to mean “with”
友達と公園に行った —> I went with my friend to the park
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think in Kansai dialect, adding と to the end of a sentence can ask a question in casual conversation.
眠らないと? —> Can’t sleep?
A lot of onomatopoeia use the と particle
It can mean “If”
ドアを開けると寒くなるよ —> If you open the door, it will get cold
の Also has a couple meanings
It can be possesive:
私の本 —> My book
私の本のページ —> My book’s page
It can be used to ask for an explanation (I think it can also be sort of feminine)
学校に行かなかったの? —> You didn’t go to school (why?)
It can also be used to GIVE the explanation
It is used to describe placement of objects:
机の上に… —> On top of the table… (I.e., On the table’s above/top)
That’s all I can think of at the moment
This website might help:
http://www.guidetojapanese.org/learn/complete/no_particle
Listing multiple nouns – Learn Japanese
Thanks a lot I will check out the links you have given.
More uses of の
It can replace が in a relative clause.
背が高い人がいる。 (There is a tall person)
This is grammatical, but Japanese people find が’s piling up on each other to be grating on the ears.
背の高い人がいる。
This sentence has the exact same meaning, and the の is doing exactly the same role as が was, but now you don’t have two が’s. You cannot replace the second が with の, because that is the main clause, not a relative clause.
It can make verbs and adjectives into nouns.
ゴルフが好きです (I like golf)
ゴルフをするのが好きです (I like to play golf)
面白い映画を見た (I saw an interesting movie)
面白いのを見た (I saw an interesting one) This one requires some context before it to make sense.
Related to ownership/possession, “XのY” can mean “X(adjective) Y”. For example, “弟のDavid” is more likely to mean “my younger brother David” than “brother’s David”. Although there’s a class of words where you have to use “な” instead.
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