Level 3 · Lesson 9

这本书是我的
This book is mine

这本书是我的。那是王老师的车。

的 makes a possessor — 我的书, 老师的车 — and stands alone for 'mine'.

听 · Listen

这是谁的？
 安娜 —  李明，这本书是谁的？ 
Li Ming, whose book is this?  
 李明 —  是我的。 
It's mine.  
 安娜 —  那本词典也是你的吗？ 
Is that dictionary yours too?  
 李明 —  不是，那是王老师的。 
No, that one is Teacher Wang's.  
 安娜 —  王老师有车吗？ 
Does Teacher Wang have a car?  
 李明 —  有。那是老师的车。 
Yes. That's his car over there.  
 安娜 —  这是你的钱吗？ 
Is this your money?  
 李明 —  不是我的，是我妈妈的。 
Not mine — it's my mum's.  

讲解 · Explanation

我的书，老师的车，安娜的手机。

的 de is the small word that ties an owner to a thing, and the order is fixed: owner + 的 + thing. 我的书 'my book', 你的手机 'your phone', 老师的车 'the teacher's car', 安娜的房子 'Anna's house'. English has two ways of saying this and Chinese has one, so the apostrophe-s of 'the teacher's car' and the 'of' of 'the door of the house' both come out as 的: 房子的门. 的 is always toneless — never dé, never dì.

我妈妈，我家，我们学校。

There is one everyday exception, and you have been using it since level 2 without knowing it was one. With close family and with the groups you belong to, 的 drops out: 我妈妈, 我爸爸, 我姐姐, 我家, 我们学校, 你们公司. 我的妈妈 is not wrong, but it sounds heavier than people usually want. Things never get this licence: 我的书, 我的车, 我的钱 — 我书 is simply not said.

这本书是我的。那是老师的。

Once everyone knows what you are talking about, the noun after 的 disappears and 的 stands on its own: 我的 'mine', 你的 'yours', 老师的 'the teacher's'. So 这本书是我的 is 'this book is mine', and the answer to 这是谁的？ 'whose is this?' is simply 是我的. Keep the 是 — the sentence is still A is B, and dropping the noun does not drop the verb.

生词 · Vocabulary

词	Meaning	注 · Note
的	possessive and attributive particle	always neutral tone: 我的书
车	car, vehicle	老师的车
房子	house	我们的房子; its measure word 座 comes later
门	door, gate	房子的门
钱	money	妈妈的钱

练习 · Practice

这是______车。 'This is the teacher's car.'

这是______书。 'This is my book.'

那本书不是我的，是姐姐______。 'That book isn't mine, it's my sister's.'

排一排。 Arrange the words: 'This is Teacher Wang's house.'

的、车、房子、门、钱 Match each word to its meaning.

用一用 · Use it

这是我的手机，那是我妈妈的车。这些书是老师的。

Pick up five things around you and say who owns each one: 这是我的书, 那是我姐姐的杯子, 这件衣服是我妈妈的. Then ask the question that goes with them — 这是谁的？ — and answer it twice, once with the full noun (是我的书) and once with 的 standing alone (是我的). Remember to drop 的 the moment you reach 我妈妈 or 我家.