<p>It's more native to say</p>
<blockquote>
<p>他们老师的名字</p>
<p>我爸爸的手表</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Generally, when the expression is <strong>his/her/my/... + people's + a thing</strong>, we tend to only use the last 的</p>
<p>However, I think this usage is more often determined &quot;case by case&quot;</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-07-26T20:00:31.513Z
2018-07-26T20:00:31.513Z
2020-06-17T09:50:11.587Z
Anna Zhian Zhou
<p>Usually, we do not use so many "的" in a single sentence, we will just break it apart. There are always many ways of saying one thing, using many "的" in a single sentence is not a habit in Chinese.</p>

<p>For your example, we could let go of the first "的" or not</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>他们（的）老师的名字</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Sometimes you let go of the last "的"</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>他们的老师（的）家</p>
</blockquote>

<p>For more "的", if it is not confusing, you could say</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>我们吃的饭里的调料的原产地是东北的一个村庄</p>
</blockquote>

<p>But in Chinese, what we would usually say is</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>我们现在吃的饭，它里面的调料产自东北的一个村庄</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-07-27T02:06:32.603Z
@StepanFilonov You are welcome!
zyy
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-07-26T20:10:27.477Z
2018-07-26T20:10:27.477Z
zyy
<p>if there's an object belonging to an object belonging to an object, do you let go of most 的?
For example: "Our teacher's name?" You basically say "The name of the teacher of ours" like: 他们的老师的名字. Or do you let go of one of 的? Because whenever I try to google translate anything similar, it lets go of all the 的 except for the last one.
Thank you in advance. </p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-07-26T20:11:57.340Z
tried google translate with more than 2 possible 的, supplied example has only 2, what about "my uncle's wife's hairdresser's son's teacher's daughter's friend's dog's collar" (8 possible 的), users doubt that google translate would only have one 的.
user6065
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-07-27T00:39:53.853Z
google translate: 8 的! 我叔叔的妻子的理发师的儿子的老师的女儿的朋友的狗的衣领 collar here more precisely means dog collar, therefore 衣领 may have to be replaced by (狗)项圈 or (狗)脖套
user6065
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-07-27T07:55:22.967Z
Extreme cases include “我老师家里有条狗” which totally omits all the possible “的”. I haven’t figured out the pattern yet.
user3332315
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-07-27T13:53:33.403Z
extreme ?, "all" seems to refer to "2", phrase can be considered of topic-comment type, topic/主题 being 我老师， 家里 1 word （at home), bkrs has many examples w/o 的: 家里都安顿好了吗?
Have you got everything settled at home? 帮我带个信给家里。Take a message home for me.....
user6065
<possessives>
Do you let go of some 的 when there are multiple?
# Do you let go of some 的 when there are multiple?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-07-26)

if there's an object belonging to an object belonging to an object, do you let go of most 的?
For example: "Our teacher's name?" You basically say "The name of the teacher of ours" like: 他们的老师的名字. Or do you let go of one of 的? Because whenever I try to google translate anything similar, it lets go of all the 的 except for the last one.
Thank you in advance.

**Tags:** possessives

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: tried google translate with more than 2 possible 的, supplied example has only 2, what about "my uncle's wife's hairdresser's son's teacher's daughter's friend's dog's collar" (8 possible 的), users doubt that google translate would only have one 的.  
> **username_1**: google translate: 8 的! 我叔叔的妻子的理发师的儿子的老师的女儿的朋友的狗的衣领 collar here more precisely means dog collar, therefore 衣领 may have to be replaced by (狗)项圈 or (狗)脖套  
> **username_2**: Extreme cases include “我老师家里有条狗” which totally omits all the possible “的”. I haven’t figured out the pattern yet.  
> **username_1**: extreme ?, "all" seems to refer to "2", phrase can be considered of topic-comment type, topic/主题 being 我老师， 家里 1 word （at home), bkrs has many examples w/o 的: 家里都安顿好了吗? Have you got everything settled at home? 帮我带个信给家里。Take a message home for me.....  

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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2018-07-26. Score: 2

It's more native to say

> 他们老师的名字
>
> 我爸爸的手表

Generally, when the expression is **his/her/my/... + people's + a thing**, we tend to only use the last 的

However, I think this usage is more often determined "case by case"


---

### Answer by username_4 on 2018-07-26. Score: 1

Usually, we do not use so many "的" in a single sentence, we will just break it apart. There are always many ways of saying one thing, using many "的" in a single sentence is not a habit in Chinese.

For your example, we could let go of the first "的" or not

> 他们（的）老师的名字

Sometimes you let go of the last "的"

> 他们的老师（的）家

For more "的", if it is not confusing, you could say

> 我们吃的饭里的调料的原产地是东北的一个村庄

But in Chinese, what we would usually say is

> 我们现在吃的饭，它里面的调料产自东北的一个村庄

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: @StepanFilonov You are welcome!  

---

