của

Possessive Marker

Level 1

The word của means 'of' and links a possessed object to its owner. The basic formula for possession is: [Possessed Noun] + (của) + [Possessor].

How It Works

When expressing ownership, the basic structure places the possessor after the noun. When talking about specific physical objects, a classifier is often required or highly natural before the noun in possessive structures (e.g., cái áo của tôi - my shirt, chiếc xe của Lan - Lan's car). While của explicitly marks ownership, native speakers heavily favor omitting it when the possessive relationship is inherent, intimate, or obvious. This applies to body parts (tóc tôi - my hair), family members (mẹ tôi - my mother), and close personal items.

This omission rule also applies to proper names (e.g., nhà Lan - Lan's house, mẹ Lan - Lan's mother). You mainly keep của for standard, non-intimate possessions (like sách của Lan - Lan's book) or to avoid ambiguity with titles and kinship terms. For example, bà Hiền means 'Mrs. Hiền', whereas bà của Hiền means 'Hiền's grandmother'. To ask 'whose?', simply combine của with the question word ai (who), as in của ai.

If the possessed noun is modified by an adjective (e.g., 'my big bag'), the use of của is usually required to separate the descriptive attributes from the possessor (cái cặp to của tôi). An exception is highly lexicalized compound nouns like bạn thân (close friend), where của can still be naturally omitted (bạn thân tôi).

Additionally, của can be used with a pronoun to act as a standalone possessive, like 'mine' or 'yours' when the noun is dropped. When referring to specific physical objects, it is extremely common to keep the classifier even when the noun is dropped (e.g., cái của tôi - my one / mine). For example, Cái của tôi màu xanh (Mine is blue). You can also use của mình to express reflexive possession ('one's own').

Finally, to say that something 'belongs to' someone, use the predicate pattern là của (is of / belongs to). For example, Cái áo này là của tôi (This shirt is mine) or Đó là của Lan (That is Lan's).

Examples (4)

  1. Đây là quyển sách của tôi.

    This is my book.

    Word by Word: This is book of me.

    The standard structure: [Thing] + của + [Owner].

  2. Balo này của ai?

    Whose backpack is this?

    Word by Word: Backpack this of who?

    Used with the question word 'ai' to ask about ownership.

  3. Nhà của anh ấy rất to.

    His house is very big.

    Word by Word: House of him very big.

    Shows possession with a third-person pronoun.

  4. Cái áo màu xanh của tôi rất đẹp.

    My blue shirt is very pretty.

    Word by Word: Classifier shirt color blue of me very pretty.

    Because the shirt is modified by an adjective ('màu xanh'), 'của' is obligatory here to separate the description from the possessor.

Common Mistakes

  • Using 'của' with family members when it is optional.

    Ba của tôi rất cao.
    Ba tôi rất cao.

    'Ba của tôi rất cao' is correct and common, especially in the South. But for family members, body parts, and very close personal items, native speakers often omit 'của' ('Ba tôi'), which sounds smoother.

  • Using English word order (Owner + Thing).

    Của tôi sách ở đây.
    Sách của tôi ở đây.

    Vietnamese is strictly head-initial. The thing being owned must always come before 'của' and the owner.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

củaLevel 1Possessive Marker

Learn This First

To use 'của' correctly, you need to understand the basic head-initial word order of Vietnamese noun phrases, where the possessor follows the noun. It is also helpful to know that possession can be expressed without 'của' and how to address people using kinship pronouns.

Words in This Pattern