• Today we are going to learn another common particles in Chinese, 的 （de）.
• 的 is a Structural Particle. It indicates the word or phrase preceding it functions as an attributive.
• Attributives are words or expression used to describe nouns. Attributives can be adjectives, nouns, pronouns or verb clauses.
• In general, the particle “的” comes in as a link marker between the attributive (adjectives, nouns, pronouns or verb clauses) and the noun modified.
  

  Attributive  +  的  +  Noun

1. Adjectival Attributive

• An obvious example of an attributive is an adjective. The adjectival attributive will generally require particle “的”.
  

  Example:

  Attributive (Adjective)	Noun	Noun  Phrase	Sound
  很贵	车	很贵的车
  hěn guì	chē	hěn guì de chē
  very expensive	car	a very expensive car
  美丽	花	美丽的花
  měi lì	huā	měi lì de huā
  beautiful	flower	a beautiful flower

2. Attributive to indicate “possession”

• A noun or pronoun followed by 的 may be used as an attributive to indicate “possession”.
  

  Example:

  Attributive (Adjective)	Noun	Noun  Phrase	Sound
  孩子	衣服	孩子的衣服
  hái zǐ	yī fú	hái zǐ de yī fú
  child	clothing	children’s clothing
  中国	车	中国的车
  zhōng guó	chē	zhōng guó de chē
  China	car	China’s car
  妈妈	书	妈妈的书
  mā ma	shū	mā ma de shū
  mother	book	mother’s book
  他	照相机	他的照相机
  tā	zhào xiàng jī	tā de zhào xiàng jī
  he	camera	his camera
  大家	建议	大家的建议
  dà jiā	jiàn yì	dà jiā de jiàn yì
  everyone	idea	everyone’s idea

• NOTE: There are no possessive pronouns (e.g. his, her, their) in Chinese. [ Pronoun + 的 ] serves the same function as a possessive pronoun in English and other languages.
• NOTE: 的 may be omitted in possessive attributive before human nouns where a close relationship is implied.
  

  那是我爸爸。 That is my father.

• NOTE: Nouns may function as attributives describing other nous, and as such rally incorporate 的.
  

  中文老师。 A Chinese teacher

3. Attributive with a verb or verb clause

• In English, when a attributive includes a verb, the modifier occurs after the noun as a relative clause introduced by a relative pronoun (‘who,’ ‘whom,’ ‘which’) or a complementizer (‘that’).
• In Chinese, all attributives precede the noun.
  

  Example:

  Attributive (verb)	Noun	Noun  Phrase	Sound
  喜欢	车	喜欢的车
  xǐ huān	chē	xǐ huān de chē
  like	car	a car that I like
  买书	人	买书的人
  mǎi shū	rén	mǎi shū de rén
  buy book	person	a person who buys books
  从中国来	学生	从中国来的学生
  cóng zhōng guó lái	xué shēng	cóng zhōng guó lái de xué shēng
  come from China	student	a student who has come from China
  刚出版	书	刚出版的书
  gāng chū bǎn	shū	gāng chū bǎn de shū
  newly published	book	a newly published book
  昨天看	那部电影	昨天看的那部电影
  zuó tiān kàn	nà bù diàn yǐng	zuó tiān kàn de nà bù diàn yǐng
  I watched yesterday	the movie	the movie I watched yesterday