Mandarin · Chapter 4 · Lesson 14 · Grammar primer
Possession with 的
我的书, 老师的车. How 的 joins a possessor to a possessed noun, and the close-relation cases where it gets dropped (我妈, 我哥).
The short version
Drop the 的 (de) for people you are close to
Objects keep it: 我的电话 (wǒ de diàn huà), 他的车 (tā de chē). Family, close friends and your own institutions lose it: 我妈 (wǒ mā), 我爸 (wǒ bà), 我哥 (wǒ gē), 我朋友 (wǒ péng yǒu), 我们公司 (wǒ men gōng sī). Keeping 的 (de) there is not wrong so much as slightly formal and distancing, which is rarely what you meant to say about your mum.
我妈 wǒ mā
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