CEFR A1 HSK 1 Particles

的 — possession and description

的 links a describer to a noun, like English 's or "of": 我的书 — my book. Drop it with close family and institutions (我妈妈, 我们学校) and after single-syllable adjectives (好人).

Structure

Owner + 的 + Noun
my book, the teacher's name.
Adjective + 的 + Noun
a describing phrase attached to a noun.
Clause + 的 + Noun
the whole clause describes the noun — "the book I bought".

How it works

Everything before 的 describes what comes after it. That single rule covers possession (我的书 my book), description (红色的车 a red car) and full relative clauses (我买的书 the book I bought) — English needs three different constructions for those; Chinese needs one particle.

The noun can be left off when it is obvious, and 的 then means "the one that…": 这是我的。 This is mine. 红色的很贵。 The red one is expensive.

的 is dropped in three common situations: with close relatives and personal relationships (我妈妈, 我朋友), with institutions you belong to (我们学校, 我们公司), and after a single-syllable adjective that has fused with the noun (好人 a good person, 新书 a new book). Keeping 的 there is not wrong, just wordy.

Do not confuse this 的 with its two homophones 得 and 地 — all three are pronounced de and are covered together in 的 / 得 / 地.

Examples

这是我的书。

Zhè shì wǒ de shū.

This is my book.

老师的名字很长。

Lǎoshī de míngzi hěn cháng.

The teacher's name is long.

我买的书很有意思。

Wǒ mǎi de shū hěn yǒu yìsi.

The book I bought is interesting.

我妈妈是医生。

Wǒ māma shì yīshēng.

My mum is a doctor.

我们学校很大。

Wǒmen xuéxiào hěn dà.

Our school is big.

他是个好人。

Tā shì ge hǎo rén.

He is a good person.

Want to hear these words in your own sentences? Paste any Chinese text into the Pinyin Annotator or the Chinese → Pinyin translator.

Quick drill — 5 questions

Five fill-in-the-gap questions built from the example sentences above. No sign-up, no score kept — just a check that the pattern has actually landed.

Common mistakes

✗ Wrong	✓ Right	Why
我的妈妈的名字	我妈妈的名字	Drop 的 before a close relative; keep the second one, which links 妈妈 to 名字.
书的我	我的书	The owner comes first. 的 always points forward to the thing being described.
他说的很快。	他说得很快。	That is the degree de. Describing how an action is performed needs 得, not 的.

的 for possession and description — frequently asked questions

How do you say "my" in Chinese?

我的 (wǒ de) — literally "I + 的". The same pattern makes every possessive: 你的 (your), 他的 (his), 我们的 (our). With close family you normally drop the 的: 我妈妈 (my mum), 我朋友 (my friend).

When can you drop 的 in Chinese?

Three cases: close relationships (我妈妈, 我朋友), groups you belong to (我们学校, 我们公司), and single-syllable adjectives fused with a noun (好人 a good person, 新车 a new car). Keeping 的 is not an error in any of these, just less idiomatic.

What is the difference between 的, 得 and 地?

They are all pronounced de. 的 attaches a describer to a noun (我的书). 得 attaches a comment to a verb, saying how well the action is done (说得很快). 地 turns a description into an adverb before a verb (慢慢地走). See the 的/得/地 page for the full comparison.

Can 的 stand without a noun after it?

Yes. When the noun is obvious it is simply left out and 的 means "the one that…": 这是我的 (this is mine), 红色的比较贵 (the red one is more expensive).

Next, learn

Put it to work

Drill the vocabulary for this level on the HSK 1 word list, rebuild scrambled sentences in the Sentence Builder, read graded stories that use this pattern in the story library, or follow a step-by-step route through the whole site in Guided Learning Paths.