What is the correct way to say "Why did the guy with pink camera eat my food?"


> ピンクのカメラの人はなぜ自分の飯を食ってしまったのか
>
> ピンクのカメラが人はなぜ自分の飯を食ってしまったのか

Which particle should be used before 人, の or が ?

Please explain the answer




ピンクのカメラ **が** 人 is clearly ungrammatical, at least in modern Japanese. It must
be ピンクのカメラ **の** 人. It is parsed in an embedded structure like this.

> ［［ピンク **の** カメラ］ **の** 人］

The particle の is used to express various types of relationship, including but
not limited to possession. The first の is used to modify the thing referenced
(カメラ) with one of its attributes, namely color. The second refers to a
situation where the person referenced is holding a pink camera. It would
correspond to “with” in English.

It is important to note that の works within a noun phrase, whereas が plays a
particular function on the sentence (or clause) level.

By the way, 自分の飯 may be understood as referring to the food of the person
holding a pink camera, instead of the speaker’s ("my food").

