No. 626 in Japanese
ノ
The Japanese word "ノ" (no) is a katakana character used for foreign words, names, or emphasis; it can also represent the possessive particle "の" (no) in an informal context.
In a sentence
これは私の本です。
This is my book.
In this sentence, 'ノ' (no) functions as a possessive particle, connecting the owner (私 - I/me) to the item (本 - book).
山への道は険しい。
The way to the mountain is steep.
Here, 'ノ' (no) indicates a directional or descriptive connection, relating 'the way' (道) to 'the mountain' (山).
彼がしたことの意味がわからない。
I don't understand the meaning of what he did.
In this example, 'ノ' (no) is used to nominalize the previous clause, allowing it to function as a noun phrase ('the meaning').
Hear it in real podcasts
The recording above is a synthetic voice. Hear how people say “ノ” in actual Japanese podcasts.
Find “ノ” in podcastsLearn it from shows you like
LangTurbo plays Japanese podcasts with a transcript and the English under every line. Tap a word like this one and it tells you what it means right there. For iPhone, iPad and Android.
Learning English?
LangTurbo plays real English podcasts with every line translated into 日本語, and tells you what any word means in that sentence. For iPhone, iPad and Android.
Japanese books and courses on Amazon (an affiliate link: a purchase through it supports this site).