Relative Clause

Relative Clause Japanese Grammar Lesson

Essential Meaning: A clause that modifies a noun

Construction:

• (Verb / い-Adjective) informal + Noun
  • E.g. 話はなす人ひと [The person who is speaking]
  • E.g. 高たかい本ほん [The expensive book]

• な-Adjective Stem + [な / だった] + Noun
  • E.g. 静しずかな家いえ [The quiet house]

• Noun + [の / だった / である / であった] + Noun
  • E.g. 先生せんせいである田中たなかさん [Tanaka-san, who is a teacher]

Notes:

• A relative clause is a clause that is used to modify a noun or a noun phrase. In English, a clause must contain a subject and a predicate at a minimum in order to be grammatical, but a Japanese clause only requires a predicate. Here are some important notes about Japanese relative clauses:
  • (1) A Japanese relative clause directly precedes the noun phrases that it modifies, as is the case for Japanese noun modifiers in general.
    • E.g. 寝ねっている犬いぬ [A sleeping dog] Notice that (1) the relative clause can consist of a lone verb, and (2) the relative clause directly precedes the noun that it modifies.
    • E.g. 大おおきい犬いぬ [The big dog] This is simply an い-Adjective, but it functions grammatically identically to a more complex relative clause.
    • E.g. 目めが大おおきい女子じょし [The girl with big eyes] This relative clause is slightly more complex with both a subject and a predicate.
  • (2) There is no Japanese equivalent to English relative pronouns (i.e. “Who“, “Which“, and “That“). In other words, Japanese relative clauses directly connect to the noun or noun phrase and any particles or pronouns associated with the noun / noun phrase are erased.
    • E.g. 頭あたまがいい学生がくせい [a smart student] Note that the relative clause connects directly to the noun that it modifies.
  • (3) The は particle cannot be used to mark the subject of a relative cause since relative clauses are a type of subordinate clause. が is used instead. の can also be used as a subject marker in relative clauses as long as the word that immediately follows the particle is not a noun.
    • E.g.トムが食たべたステーキ [The steak that Tom ate]
    • E.g. ジョンの食たべたステーキ [The steak that Tom ate] Note that the meaning is identical to the prior example because the particle の precedes a verb rather than a noun.
    • E.g. トムがフットボールの切符きっぷをあげた女おんなの子こ [The girl to whom Tom gave his football ticket]
    • E.g. トムのフットボールの切符きっぷをあげた女おんなの子こ [The girl who gave away Tom’s football ticket] Note that the meaning is different from the prior example because the particle の directly precedes a noun. This creates an attributive relationship between the nouns that precede and follow の.
  • (4) The noun that is modified by a relative clause (as well as its associated particles) can not be included in the relative clause itself. Also, any particles or pronouns associated with the noun that is modified by a relative clause are dropped.
    • E.g. ジョンが食たべたステーキ [The steak that John ate] The を particle that is associated with the direct object ステーキ is omitted when ステーキ is modified by a relative clause.
  • (5) Verbs in relative clauses are always in the informal form, regardless of the formality of the main predicate
    • E.g. 読よんでいる学生がくせい [The students who are reading]
    • E.g. あそこで本ほんを読よんでいる学生がくせい [The student who is reading over there]
    • E.g. 髪かみが長ながい人ひと [The person who has long hair]
    • E.g. めがねをかけている人ひと [The person who is wearing glasses]
    • E.g. 猫ねこが好すきな人ひと [The person who likes cats]
    • E.g. あそこで写真しゃしんを撮とっている人ひと [The person who is taking a photo over there]
    • E.g. 毎日まいにち運動うんどうをする人ひと [The person who exercises every day]
    • E.g. タバコが吸すわない人ひと [The person who doesn’t smoke tobacco]
    • E.g. 去年きょねん結婚けっこんした人ひと [The person who got married last year]

• According to “A Dictionary Of Basic Japanese Grammar“, when you have two sentences such as ジョーンはステーキを食たべました。そのステーキはおいしかったです。[John ate a steak. That steak was delicious], there are five steps for relativizing the first sentence:
  • Step 1: Remove the common noun phrase from the sentence that you are relativizing.
    • E.g. ジョンはXを食たべました。そのステーキは美味おいしかったです。
  • Step 2: Remove the object marking particle that is left over after removing the noun.
    • E.g. ジョンはXX食たべました。そのステーキは美味おいしかったです。
  • Step 3: Change the verb into the appropriate informal form.
    • E.g. ジョンはXX食たべた。そのステーキは美味おいしかったです。
  • Step 4: Convert any は particles to が or の.
    • E.g ジョンが食たべた。そのステーキは美味おいしかったです。
  • Step 5: Connect the relative clause directly before the noun phrase by erasing any particles, pronouns, etc.
    • E.g ジョンは食たべたステーキは美味おいしかったです。[The steak that John ate was delicious.]

• In some cases, the relative clause may not directly relate to the noun phrase but instead represent some event that brings about the noun phrase.
  • E.g. 魚さかながこげる匂におい [The smell of burning fish] The act of burning fish brings about the smell.
  • E.g. 誰だれかが廊下ろうかを走はしる音おと [The sound of someone running down the hall] The act of running down the hall brings about the sound.
  • E.g. 山やまに登のぼった疲つかれ [The exhaustion from climbing a mountain] The act of climbing a mountain brings about the exhaustion

• Note that there is a distinction between relative clauses and appositive clauses. The difference is that a relative clauses modifies a noun (i.e. adds some kind of information or context) while an appositive clause re-states a noun in different terms. They are basically grammatically identical in Japanese.
  • E.g. 日本にほんへ行いく計画けいかく / 考かんがえ/ 予定よてい / 夢ゆめ [The plan / thought / schedule / dream of going to Japan] The subordinate clause defines the noun that it precedes rather than modify it or add context. It is therefore an appositive clause.
  • E.g. 日本にほんへ行いった事実じじつ / 経験けいけん / 話はなし / 思おもい出で [The fact / experience / story / memory that I went to Japan.] The subordinate clause defines the noun that it precedes rather than modify it or add context. It is therefore an appositive clause.

• In English, we typically use “That” for restrictive relative clauses and “Which” for non-restrictive relative clauses. In Japanese, this distinction boils down to context.
  • E.g. よく働はたらく日本人にほんじんは嫌きらわれる。[Japanese people, who work hard, are hated. / Japanese people who work hard are hated.] Depending on context, the relative clause may refer to all Japanese people or it may be restricted to only the Japanese people who work hard.
  • E.g. 私わたしが日本語にほんごを教おしえてあげたブラウンさんはよく勉強べんきょうする。[Mr Brown, to whom I taught Japanese, studies well. / Among the Brown’s I know, Mr. Brown, to whom I taught Japanese, studies well.] In this example, the relative clause may refer to all Brown-sans or it may be restricted to only the Brown-san that the speaker taught.

• Nouns marked by で (Cause) or より (Than) cannot be relativized. Nouns marked by other particles generally can be relativized.

Examples

田中たなかさんが食たべたステーキは高たかかった。[The steak that Tanaka-san ate was expensive.]

ステーキがおいしいレストランを知しらない。[I don’t know any restaurants that have delicious steak.]

日本語にほんごを教おしえている先生せんせいは小林こばやし先生せんせいです。[The teacher who teaches Japanese is Kobayashi-sensei.]

テニスが上手じょうずな人ひとを教おしえてください。[Please tell me of anyone who is good at tennis.]

お父とうさんが医者いしゃの学生がくせいは三人さんにんいます。 [There are three students whose fathers are doctors.]

私わたしが行いった町まちは病院びょういんがなかった。[The town that I went to didn’t have a hospital.]

道子みちこが行いく学校がっこうが東京とうきょうにあります。[The school that Michiko goes to is in Tokyo.]

スティーブがあなたの写真しゃしんをとったカメラがこれですか。[Is this the camera with which Steve took pictures of you?]

WILD Examples:

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