watashi no hande wa takai ga, abereeji wa hikui.

topic particle

Breakdown of watashi no hande wa takai ga, abereeji wa hikui.

• 私わたし: I
• の: possessive case particle
• が: but

Questions & Answers about watashi no hande wa takai ga, abereeji wa hikui.

How is this sentence put together grammatically?

It breaks down like this:

• 私のハンデは = my handicap
• 高い = is high
• が = but
• アベレージは = the average / as for the average
• 低い = is low

So the pattern is basically:

X は A が、Y は B
= X is A, but Y is B

This is a very common way to contrast two things in Japanese.

What does の do in 私のハンデ?

の links a noun to another noun. Here it shows possession or relationship.

• 私 = I / me
• 私の = my
• 私のハンデ = my handicap

So の is doing the job that my does in English.

You will see this pattern all the time:

• 私の本 = my book
• 先生の車 = the teacher’s car
• 日本の文化 = Japanese culture

Why are ハンデ and アベレージ written in katakana?