You use 'of' to combine two nouns when the first noun identifies the feature of the second noun that you want to talk about.
I am not sure what "I" want to talk about in the sentence.
Talking about "the feature" or talking about "the second noun"?
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Honestly, the sentence would be perfectly fine without the word "that" between "noun" and "you". – Catija♦ Oct 30 '15 at 6:38
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1I think "the second noun that you want to talk about" must be seen as a whole phrase. – Cardinal Oct 30 '15 at 6:43
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Exactly. @Cardinal I parsed for the op that way. – Maulik V♦ Oct 30 '15 at 6:44
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In such case, take an example.
color of an elephant
Two nouns - color and elephant. The first noun 'color' identifies the feature of the second noun 'elephant'.
Now go back to the sentence in concern: Read it this way-
You use 'of' to combine two nouns when the first noun identifies the feature of [the second noun that you want to talk about].
So, to answer, here, you want to talk about 'the elephant' here.
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Thanks for your excellent answer! I got it now, but I got another question again.what could I say if I want to make "that" refer to the first noun. E.g.,"the color that we talk about of an elephant".I am not sure if the sentence I made is correct or not. – Tim Oct 30 '15 at 8:12
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This is wrong - it's the color that you want to talk about - "...the first noun identifies the feature [...] that you want to talk about". Otherwise you can't have "the feature", because there's nothing to make it definite. – psmears Jun 26 '17 at 14:15
