ike no chikaku no hodou o sanposhimasu.

I take a walk on the sidewalk near the pond.

Breakdown of ike no chikaku no hodou o sanposhimasu.

• を: direct object particle
• の: possessive case particle
• 近ちかく: vicinity
• 池いけ: pond

Questions & Answers about ike no chikaku no hodou o sanposhimasu.

Why are there two の particles in 池の近くの歩道?

Japanese allows you to chain noun modifiers by stacking の.

1. The first の links 池 (pond) with 近く (vicinity), literally “the vicinity of the pond.”
2. The second の turns that phrase (池の近く) into an adjective for 歩道 (sidewalk).
   So it reads as “the sidewalk of the vicinity of the pond,” i.e. “the sidewalk near the pond.”

What part of speech is 近く and what does it mean here?

近く is a noun meaning “vicinity” or “nearby area.”

• When used with に (as in ～の近くに～), it tells you where something exists.
• When used with の (as here), it modifies another noun: 近くの歩道 = “the sidewalk in the nearby area.”

Why can’t we say 近くに歩道 instead of 近くの歩道?

Particles serve different roles:

• に marks a location or target (adverbial use). You’d say 駅の近くに店があります (“There’s a shop near the station”).
• の creates an adjective phrase from a noun. To directly modify 歩道, you need の, giving 近くの歩道 (“the sidewalk that is near”).

Why is there an を after 歩道, but no particle between 散歩 and します?