Learn Hardcore Japanese: kinou no bangohan ha, tuma ga ryourikyousitu de naratta pasuta dake desita ga, totemo oisikatta desu. - Yesterday’s dinner was only the pasta my wife learned at the cooking class, but it was very delicious.

Word

昨日きのう　の　晩ばんご飯はん　は、　妻つま　が　料理教室りょうりきょうしつ　で　習ならった　パスタ　だけ　でした　が、　とても　おいしかった　です。kinou no bangohan wa, tsuma ga ryourikyoushitsu de naratta pasuta dake deshita ga, totemo oishikatta desu.

Meaning

Yesterday’s dinner was only the pasta my wife learned at the cooking class, but it was very delicious.

Part of speech

sentence

Pronunciation

Course

Hardcore Japanese

Lesson

Lesson 32

Breakdown of kinou no bangohan wa, tsuma ga ryourikyoushitsu de naratta pasuta dake deshita ga, totemo oishikatta desu.

possessive case particle

Questions & Answers about kinou no bangohan wa, tsuma ga ryourikyoushitsu de naratta pasuta dake deshita ga, totemo oishikatta desu.

What is the function of の in 昨日の晩ご飯?

の here connects 昨日 (yesterday) and 晩ご飯 (dinner), making "yesterday’s dinner".

This の is like the English possessive ’s or the structure "X of Y".
So:

昨日の晩ご飯 = yesterday’s dinner
日本の映画 = Japanese movie / movie from Japan
友だちの家 = friend’s house

It’s just marking that the dinner is the one from yesterday.

Why is there a は after 晩ご飯 in 昨日の晩ご飯は?

は marks 昨日の晩ご飯 as the topic of the sentence: what we’re going to talk about.

So the sentence structure is:

昨日の晩ご飯は … = As for yesterday’s dinner, / Speaking of yesterday’s dinner, …

Then the rest of the sentence gives information about that topic:

… 妻が料理教室で習ったパスタだけでしたが、…

In English, we don’t have a direct particle like this, but you can feel it as “As for…” or “Regarding…”. The thing after は is not necessarily the doer of the action (subject); it’s the topic.

Why is it 妻が and not 妻は?