Possession with 的 — Chinese grammar (HSK 1)

Owner + 的 + Noun

的 (de) marks possession, like English "'s" or "my / your / his". Put the owner first, then 的, then the thing owned: 我的书 is "my book" and 林安的猫 is "Lin An's cat". The same pronoun works for both "I" and "my"; only 的 changes the meaning.

Examples

这是我的书。 Zhè shì wǒ de shū.	This is my book.
林安的猫很小。 Lín Ān de māo hěn xiǎo.	Lin An's cat is small.
她是我的老师。 Tā shì wǒ de lǎoshī.	She is my teacher.

Tip: With family members and close relationships 的 is often dropped: 我妈妈, 我朋友.