Part-Whole Relation
What is it part of?
Meaning
A relation where one thing is a part, member, ingredient, section, surface, feature, or component of another.
How to spot it
Ask whether one entity belongs structurally inside another.
Examples
roof|hand|page|piece|member
the roof of the house|a piece of cake|part of the team
The roof of the house is red.
Visual guide
WHOLE └─ PART / member house └─ roof team └─ member Ask: part of what?
Same relation, different forms: English: roof of the house Genitive: house-GEN roof Compound: house-roof Partitive: piece of cake Not just ownership.
Language View
In your language
English uses of-phrases, possessive forms, and noun compounds for part-whole relations.
The roof of the house is old.
of the house = part-whole relation
In learning language
Part-whole relations are often simple noun sequences, sometimes with của for clarity or emphasis.
Mái nhà bị hỏng.
roof house passive broken
Learners may translate every of with của even when a noun sequence is natural.
Same block, different coding
Both languages use this block strongly, but they signal it differently. Focus on form changes, not only meaning.