How to write "Whose book is this?"

[WillisTron]

I was thinking it was like this;

dari wa boushi no des ka?
Who (subject) book(possesion) is this?

or could it be

Dari no boushi wa des ka?

Thanks in advanced

 

[undrentide]

Who is not 'dari' but 'dare'.
You can add '-no' to make it possessive.

'Boushi' means hat or cap, book is 'hon' in Japanese.

Kore wa dare no hon desuka?
(this who's book is, if literally translated word by word. Remember that this kind of translation does not really work to learn the language.)

 

[Mike Cash]

You write it "Whose book is this?"

The possessive pronoun is "whose".

"Who's" is a contraction of "who is".

 

[undrentide]

Sorry Mike, I do know whose, "who's" my coinage for dare-no. (It really is contraction for who is...)
Apologies to OP if this caused any confusion.

 

[Mike Cash]

It's one of the many small points about English that American schools have either quit teaching or American students have quit learning.

 

[WillisTron]

Thank you very much, that clears things up!

 

[Mike Cash]

Thanks to you, Willis, for being a good sport.

 

[Jimi]

Kono hon wa dare desu ka.
Kono, not kore because it functions as an adjective in this case, i always rember it as Kore no "noun". I think Dare no hon wa desu ka is grammatically fine, but it feels weird because it allready implies it belongs to someone. It is kinda like "This book of someone from who is it?", where "Kono hon wa dare desu ka" is like "About this book from who is it". This is also why you dont write the No particle behind dare, or after kono itsellf.

Also, in your first guess you switched the "person" with the "object" so, "hon no dare" which is something i am incapable of describing in english :? Dare no Hon is the correct way.

 

[Mike Cash]

Wrong on all counts.

Your opening try is "Who is this book?"

 

[Jimi]

Wrong on all counts.

Your opening try is "Who is this book?"

Oh snap. You are totally right. Ignore my comment. Sorry for the confusion i might have caused you.

 

[Elizabeth]

I was thinking it was like this;

dari wa boushi no des ka?
Who (subject) book(possesion) is this?

or could it be

Dari no boushi wa des ka?

Thanks in advanced

It could also be "Kono hon wa dare desuka"? to nicely avoid who's, unless you mean it for "who has."

 

[undrentide]

It could also be "Kono hon wa dare desuka"? to nicely avoid who's, unless you mean it for "who has."

It means 'who is this book'.
You meant 'kono hon wa dareno desuka'? - but then it is 'whose' again...

 

[Elizabeth]

It means 'who is this book'.
You meant 'kono hon wa dareno desuka'? - but then it is 'whose' again...

Oh yes. I hope the OP is not as confused as I am. lol. But that is a funny typo. Sorry I was typing at work.

 

[Speedy Japanese]

Throw my hat in the arena with "Kore wa dare no hon desu ka"

Equates very well with your original question and avoids the repetition of the word hon in the sentence as it appears singularly in the original question.