Substitute : No as a substitute for a noun

Examples
1. A : Kore wa dare no hon desu ka.
"Whose book is this?"
B : Watashi no desu.
"It's mine."
2. A : Akai kaban wa dare no desu ka.
"Whose is the red bag?"
B : Ruin san no desu.
"It's Mr. Lwin's."
3. A : Aoi no wa.
"How about the blue one?"
B : Arisu san no desu.
"It's Alice san's."

In a modifier { noun, like noun + no + noun, -i adjective { noun, etc., a modified noun can be replaced by no, when the referent is obvious between the speaker and the hearer. And omit one no in case of noun { no { no. Take Ruin san no hon for example. When hon is replaced by no, you may expect Ruin san no no. However, the correct form is Ruin san no.
Examples
1. A : Kore wa anata no kutsu desu ka.
"Are these your shoes?"
B : Iie, watashi no ja arimasen. Ruin san no desu.
"No, they aren't mine. They are Mr. Lwin's."
2. A : Kono aoi no wa doo desu ka.
"How about this blue one?"
B : Ee, sore o kudasai.
"That's good. I'll it."

Location of a thing or a person

"I watch TV in the room."
D. The following are some nouns of place used in a phrase indicating a location.

1 „ shokudoo "cafeteria"
daigaku "university"
heya "room", etc.
2 „ koko "here"
soko "there" or "the hearer's area"
asoko "over there"
doko "where"
3 „ Ruin san no tokoro "place where Mr. Lwin is" "MrLwin's place."
Ishihara san no tokoro "place where Mr. Ishihara is" "Mr. Ishihara's place."
Tomodachi no tokoro "place where a friend is" "a friend's place.", etc.
4 „ tatemono no mae ni "in front of the building"
ushiro ni "behind the building"
naka ni "inside the building"
soba ni "near the building"
tonari ni "next to the building"
tsukue no ue ni "on the desk"
shita ni "under the desk"

The relationship among koko, soko, asoko and doko in 2„ is the same as that of kore, sore, are and dore.
3„ shows that Ruin san is a noun of person, while Ruin san no tokoro is a noun of place. You should say "Ruin san no tokoro e ikimashita." instead of "Ruin san e ikimashita.," when you want to say "I went to Mr. Lwin's."

Recall that when a noun modifies another noun, the modifying noun comes first and the modified noun follows the modifying noun { the particle no. You cannot say mae no tatemono but tatemono no mae in order to express "the front of the building."

Examples
1. Ruin san no tokoro ni teepurekoodaa ga arimasu.
"The tape recorder is at the place where Mr. Lwin is."(Lit.)
2. Shoogakukin wa Mugishima san no tokoro ni arimasu.
"The scholarship is in Mr. Mugishima's place(office)."(Lit.)
3. Asoko ni shiroi tatemono ga arimasu.
"There is a white building over there."
4. Kaarin san wa doko ni imasu ka.
"Where is Karin san?"
5. Tsukue no ue ni hon ga arimasu.
"There is a book on the desk."
6. Koogakubu no soba ni seekyoo ga arimasu.
"There is a Co-op near the Faculty of Engineering."
7. A : Kaban wa doko ni arimasu ka.
"Where is the bag?"
B : Tsukue no shita ni arimasu.
"It's under the desk."

E. This pattern is also used to express an abstract idea.

Examples
1. Watashi ni iken ga arimasu.
"I have an opinion."
2. Ano gakusee no Nihongo ni mondai ga arimasu.
"There is a problem with that student's Japanese."

Location of a thing or a person

A. All things or all persons occupy a definite place. For example, the tape recorder you are using is on your desk, the cafeteria where you go everyday is near the Faculty of Engineering, or Mr. Lwin is now in the classroom, etc.
The basic English pattern used to express these ideas is "There is something/someone somewhere."In Japanese, all of these are expressed by the following
pattern.

(Place) ni (thing) ga arimasu
(Place) ni (person) ga imasu

Examples
1. Daigaku ni shokudoo ga arimasu.
"There is a cafeteria at the university."
2. Daigaku ni toire ga arimasu.
"There is a restroom at the university."
3. Daigaku ni Ruin san ga imasu.
"There is a Mr. Lwin at the university."
4. Daigaku ni sensee ga imasu.
"There are teachers at the university."

B. The verb arimasu is used when the noun preceding ga, the subject of a sentence, isa non-living or non-moving thing. The verb imasu is used with living things which can move themselves, that is human beings and animals.
Examples
1. Keezai gakubu ni kenkyuushitsu ga arimasu.
"There are professor's offices in the Faculty of Economics."
2. Keezai gakubu ni Hasegawa sensee ga imasu.
"There is a Prof. Hasegawa on the Faculty of Economics."
3. Ryuugakusee kaikan ni robii ga arimasu.
"There is a lobby in the Foreign Students' House."
Ryuugakusee kaikan ni Arisu san ga imasu.
"There is an Alice san in the Foreign Students' House."

C. In this pattern the place or the location is signaled by the particle ni. Ni indicates the place where a thing or a person is located, while de, which has already been introduced in Lesson 2, NOTES ON SENTENCE GRAMMAR IV-D, indicates the place where an activity takes place.

Examples
1. Shokudoo ni Ruin san ga imasu.
"There is a Mr. Lwin in the cafeteria."
2. Ruin san wa shokudoo de tabemasu.
"Mr. Lwin eats in the cafeteria."
3. Heya ni terebi ga arimasu.
"There is a TV in the room."
4. Heya de terebi o mimasu.
"I watch TV in the room."