I know Google Translate is not always your best friend when it comes to
Japanese, but when trying to compare what I'm understanding of my lessons and
what I find in guide samples I'm a bit confused about the mandatory usage of
the の particle.

```

    1. 今年春休み
    2. 今年の春休み
    3. 今年春の休み
    4. 今年の春の休み
    
```

They all look to mean the same thing: "Spring break this year".

Now for my comprehension of the の particle usage I thought number 4 would be
more correct, while the guide uses number 2. And now I wonder: is the の
particle optional? It there a general rule I can understand for when it has to
be used and when not? Thanks in advance for replies.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-07-12T10:26:27.360
60049
2018-07-12T11:10:35.487
18387
question
particle-の
今年の春休み - Optional usage of の
the possessive の particle is not optional, although in "lazy" speech some
people might drop it in some cases when really they shouldn't.

Unfortunately for the sake of your question, (at least using the example of
"Spring break (of) this year" / "This year's Spring break") the reason number
2 is correct while the other choices are wrong or slightly weird is simply
because those two words, 今年 and 春休み are very standard Japanese terms.

There is no reason to place a の particle between 春 and 休み because "the break
of Spring" is less intuitive than 春休み "Spring break".

Similarly, 今年春 is not a standard way of referring to "Spring this year", it's
wrong because you're identifying 春 as belonging to 今年 and you need the の
particle to denote that.

If there is a rule that helps you identify these situations other than simply
"knowing common vocabulary", unfortunately with my level of Japanese I'm not
aware of it.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-07-12T11:10:35.487
60051
2018-07-12T11:10:35.487
29347
60049
answer