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> 才能がないことはないけど、私（の or は）才能があまりすごくない。 "It's not that I don't have talent, but
> my talents aren't very cool."

Which particle would be more acceptable? I ask this because in Japanese there
are phrases such as 頭がいい (smart) and in sentences with this it would be, for
example:

> 彼は頭がいい。He is smart. ("his head is good.")

With は as opposed to の because while の is not technically incorrect は in that
place sounds more natural to Japanese speakers. When describing attributions
of something one uses "Topic は Noun が Adjective です", right? Can I use this
pattern in this case?
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2016-07-14T23:44:21.887
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question
grammar particle-は particle-の
の or は, which particle would be a better choice in this sentence?
Probably best not to use 私は unless this is the first sentence in a paragraph,
or you're contrasting yourself with someone/everyone else.

Something like this would sound better to me:

> 才能がないことはないけど、才能があまりすごくない。

But, if you definitely want to put 私は in, I would suggest putting it up front:

> 私は才能がないことはないけど、才能があまりすごくない。

To get across the full meaning of your English expression though, I would
suggest something like the following:

  * 才能がない **こともない** けど、 **そんなにすごいわけではないです** 。
  * **私は** 才能がない **こともない** けど、 **そんなにすごいわけではないです** 。 

"It's not that I don't have talent, but my talents aren't very cool."
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2016-07-15T00:38:54.727
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In the first sentence, the only acceptable choice is は.

才能がないことはないけど、私の才能があまりすごくない is wrong because it lacks topics (while it's a
sentence of statement that stands for general judgement or recognition about
something). In other words, 私の才能は… is correct.

The second sentence is basically the same. But there's a room to suppose
(unusual) situations where you use topicless sentences, like when you suddenly
bump into a scene where you find someone unexpectedly smart, or when you
confirm what the opponent has just said.
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2016-07-15T02:20:08.147
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answer