Breakdown of supiichi no genkou wa, chiisana memochou ni pointo dake kaite arimasu.
はwa
topic particle
のno
possessive case particle
書くkaku
to write
にni
location particle
Questions & Answers about supiichi no genkou wa, chiisana memochou ni pointo dake kaite arimasu.
What does の do in スピーチの原稿? Is it just like of in English?
の links two nouns, making the first one modify the second.
- スピーチの原稿 literally = speech’s script / script of the speech
- More natural English: the script for the speech
So スピーチの原稿 means the speech script or the script/draft for the speech.
Here の shows a close relationship (like ownership, “for”, or “about”) between スピーチ and 原稿.
Why is は used after 原稿 (スピーチの原稿は) instead of が?
は marks the topic of the sentence, not the grammatical subject in a strict sense.
- スピーチの原稿は、…
= As for the speech script, …
= Regarding the speech script, …
The focus of the sentence is not on who wrote it, but on what state the script is in (only the points are written in a small memo pad).
If you used が here (スピーチの原稿が…), it would sound like you are introducing the script itself as something new, emphasized information. Using は makes it feel like you’re continuing a topic already known in the conversation: “About the speech script, it’s only written as bullet points in a small notebook.”
Why is it 小さなメモ帳 and not 小さいメモ帳? What is the difference between 小さな and 小さい?
