Mandarin Possession with 的 (de): My, Your, His, and When Mandarin Drops the Particle
The basic pattern
Possessor + 的 + Possessed thing.
- 我的书 (wǒ de shū) - my book
- 你的车 (nǐ de chē) - your car
- 他的电话 (tā de diàn huà) - his phone
- 老师的车 (lǎo shī de chē) - the teacher's car
- 小猫的尾巴 (xiǎo māo de wěi ba) - the little cat's tail
- 我朋友的房子 (wǒ péng you de fáng zi) - my friend's house
Same structure for pronouns and full nouns. The possessor sits first, 的 in the middle, the possessed noun at the end.
'My' and 'mine' are the same word
English splits possessives into two sets: my/your/his/her (adjectives, attached to a noun) and mine/yours/his/hers (pronouns, standing alone). Mandarin uses one form for both.
- 这是我的书。(Zhè shì wǒ de shū.) - This is my book.
- 这本书是我的。(Zhè běn shū shì wǒ de.) - This book is mine.
In the second sentence, the noun has been dropped because it's already known from context. 我的 by itself reads as 'mine'.
When 的 gets dropped: close relations
For close family and very close personal relationships, native speakers usually drop the 的. Keeping it sounds slightly formal, slightly distancing.
- 我妈 / 我妈妈 (wǒ mā) - my mum (NOT 我的妈妈)
- 我爸 (wǒ bà) - my dad
- 我哥 (wǒ gē) - my older brother
- 我朋友 (wǒ péng you) - my friend
- 我们公司 (wǒ men gōng sī) - our company (the company you work for, treated as 'ours')
- 我家 (wǒ jiā) - my home / my family
The rule of thumb: if it's a person or institution you're emotionally attached to, drop the 的. If it's an object, keep it.
Compare:
- 我妈 (my mum) - close relation, 的 dropped
- 我的电话 (my phone) - object, 的 kept
- 他爸 (his dad) - close relation, dropped
- 他的车 (his car) - object, kept
的 isn't only for possession
The same particle is the general modifier marker between an adjective phrase and a noun. The 'possession' use is one slice of a bigger pattern.
- 红色的衣服 (hóng sè de yī fu) - red clothes (adjective modifies noun)
- 很贵的手机 (hěn guì de shǒu jī) - a very expensive phone
- 我买的书 (wǒ mǎi de shū) - the book I bought (clause modifies noun)
- 昨天来的人 (zuó tiān lái de rén) - the person who came yesterday
The rule across all uses: A 的 B means 'A that modifies / belongs to / describes B'.
的 as a nominaliser ('the X one')
When the noun gets dropped, 的 + previous phrase reads as 'the X one'. This is the same trick as 我的 = 'mine'.
- 红色的 (hóng sè de) - the red one
- 我买的 (wǒ mǎi de) - the one I bought
- 老师的 (lǎo shī de) - the teacher's one
- 便宜的 (pián yi de) - the cheap one
The 'one' is implied by 的 alone. You don't add a placeholder noun.
Chaining possessors
You can stack possessors with multiple 的, though native speakers tend to keep these short.
- 我朋友的妈妈 (wǒ péng you de mā ma) - my friend's mum
- 老师的儿子的车 (lǎo shī de ér zi de chē) - the teacher's son's car
Two 的s is comfortable. Three is borderline. Four is usually rewritten.
What to internalise
- Default: possessor + 的 + thing. 我的书, 老师的车. This shape covers most cases.
- Drop 的 for close family and friends. 我妈, 我哥, 我朋友. Keeping it sounds stiff.
- 的 is the general modifier glue. Adjectives, clauses, possessors - they all attach to nouns via 的.
- 'Mine' and 'my' are the same word. Drop the noun, 的 carries the 'one' meaning.
For the wider grammar map, see the Mandarin grammar cheatsheet.