の or は, which particle would be a better choice in this sentence?

Question

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?

Answer 1

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.

Answer 2

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."