Making Nouns with の, Part II
In the last lesson, I talked about turning verbs and i-adjectives into nouns (i.e. forming noun phrases) using の.
Here is an i-adjective combining with の to form a noun phrase:
安いの買った。
やすい の かった。
I bought a cheap one.
Literally: “cheap / affordable + の + bought.”
When you take your nephew to the toy store, you can make his day by saying...
好きなの選んで。
すき な の えらんで。
Pick whichever one you'd like.
Literally: "liked + な + の + choose / pick (and)."
Note: A traditional textbook would likely insert を after の in this sentence, but doing so is not common in casual speech.
When you're talking about the ins and outs of learning Japanese, you can say...
大変なのは漢字の勉強です。
たいへん な の は かんじ の べんきょう です。
The hard part is learning kanji.
Literally: "difficult / tough + な + の + は + kanji + の + studies + です."
When you're telling your friend about which model of pressure cooker you decided to get, you might say...
一番人気なの買った。
いちばん にんき な の かった。
I bought the most popular one.
Literally: "the most (=number one) + popular + な + の + bought."
Note: It is also possible to insert を after の, but doing so is not common in casual speech.
If this all sounds very confusing, it might be because you're trying to tackle such an advanced concept too early in your studies. At this point, I think it's enough to know that の is capable of performing this "noun-forming" function. We can worry about using it accurately and whatnot once we get to a higher level.
You're done!
お疲れ様でした！
おつかれさま でした！
Thank you for your hard work!
Note: All English translations of this phrase are terrible. It's just something you say to someone after they've been working. So you could say it at the end of the day when your colleague is leaving or when cheersing (Is that a word yet?) the friend that you met for drinks after work.
Here is an i-adjective combining with の to form a noun phrase:
安いの買った。
やすい の かった。
I bought a cheap one.
Literally: “cheap / affordable + の + bought.”
Here is a verb combining with の to form a noun phrase.
走るの大好き。
はしる の だいすき。
I love running.
Literally: “run + の + loved / really liked.”
You may or may not have noticed this, but I have yet to talk about combining na-adjectives with の to form noun phrases.
I thought I would save this for a separate lesson since it's not as simple as just slapping の onto the end of the word.
In the case of a na-adjective, we need to insert the particle な between the na-adjective and の：
na-adjective ＋ な ＋ の
I'll let examples do the teaching for this one...
When you take your nephew to the toy store, you can make his day by saying...
好きなの選んで。
すき な の えらんで。
Pick whichever one you'd like.
Literally: "liked + な + の + choose / pick (and)."
Note: A traditional textbook would likely insert を after の in this sentence, but doing so is not common in casual speech.
When you're talking about the ins and outs of learning Japanese, you can say...
大変なのは漢字の勉強です。
たいへん な の は かんじ の べんきょう です。
The hard part is learning kanji.
Literally: "difficult / tough + な + の + は + kanji + の + studies + です."
When you're telling your friend about which model of pressure cooker you decided to get, you might say...
一番人気なの買った。
いちばん にんき な の かった。
I bought the most popular one.
Literally: "the most (=number one) + popular + な + の + bought."
Note: It is also possible to insert を after の, but doing so is not common in casual speech.
If this all sounds very confusing, it might be because you're trying to tackle such an advanced concept too early in your studies. At this point, I think it's enough to know that の is capable of performing this "noun-forming" function. We can worry about using it accurately and whatnot once we get to a higher level.
You're done!
お疲れ様でした！
おつかれさま でした！
Thank you for your hard work!
Note: All English translations of this phrase are terrible. It's just something you say to someone after they've been working. So you could say it at the end of the day when your colleague is leaving or when cheersing (Is that a word yet?) the friend that you met for drinks after work.
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