Relative Clauses

Japanese Grammar 3

Course 3 · Chapter 2 · Relative Clauses

🔗 Relative Clauses — ぶんでなまえをかざる

A relative clause describes a noun with a whole clause: "the book that I bought yesterday", "the person who lives next door", "the day when we met". Japanese has no that / who / which / when. You simply put the plain-form clause in front of the noun. The only skill to learn is knowing which noun can be described and which particle quietly disappears.

The rule in one box Plain-form clause + noun. Take an ordinary sentence, delete the noun (and its particle) that you want to describe, put the rest in front of that noun. The inner subject takes が or の. The noun can fill any role in the clause: subject, object, place, time, tool, companion.

1. Make a relative clause: the delete-and-move method

Original sentence	Delete	Relative clause
ともだちがほんをかしました。	ほんを	ともだちがかしたほん the book my friend lent
ひとがあそこでほんをよんでいます。	ひとが	あそこでほんをよんでいるひと the person reading a book over there
わたしはまちにすんでいます。	まちに	わたしがすんでいるまち the town where I live
きのうみせへいきました。	みせへ	きのういったみせ the shop I went to yesterday
ともだちとひるごはんをたべました。	ともだちと	ひるごはんをたべたともだち the friend I had lunch with
そのひにあめがふりました。	そのひに	あめがふったひ the day it rained

In every case the particle that attached the deleted noun (を, が, に, へ, と, に) disappears with it. The noun's role is recoverable from the rest of the clause, so Japanese never says "where I live in".

Watch out: the missing particle can leave two readings ともだちがすきなひと is genuinely ambiguous. すき marks the person liked with が, so it can mean "the person my friend likes" (friend = subject) or "the person who likes my friend" (friend = the one liked, the person = subject). Context decides. Without any inner subject, すきなひと is "someone I like" or "someone who likes me". When it matters, make the sentence longer: ともだちをすきなひと would be "someone who likes my friend" with を in speech, or use a different verb.

2. The inner subject: が or の

Inside a relative clause the subject can take が, or の (more formal and a bit literary):

With が	With の
ははがつくったケーキ	ははのつくったケーキ
わたしがすんでいるまち	わたしのすんでいるまち
あめがふるひ	あめのふるひ

の is especially useful when が would appear twice in the sentence: ともだちのすんでいるまちがすきです。 (not ともだちがすんでいるまちがすきです, which is a crowded double が). の is possible only inside a relative or other subordinate clause, never in a main clause.

Watch out: の only for the subject の replaces が only when が marked the subject of the inner clause. An object marked with が (with すき, ほしい, できる, potential verbs) can also be changed: わたしのすきなほん is fine, but the meaning is "the book I like" because わたし is still the subject. Keep が in any clause where it is not clear.

3. Different head nouns, same pattern

Head noun	Meaning of the noun	Example
ひと / もの	person / thing	ピアノをひくひと the person who plays the piano
ところ / ばしょ	place	こどもがあそんでいるところ the place where children are playing
とき / ひ / ばあい	time, day, case	はじめてあったとき the time we first met
りゆう / ほうほう	reason, method	いかなかったりゆう the reason I didn't go
こと / の	an act as a noun	わたしがいったこと what I said ないているのをみた I saw (someone) crying

Relative clause or content clause?

For the nouns above, the head noun fills a gap inside the clause. A different set of nouns, such as はなし (story), うわさ (rumour), きもち (feeling), しらせ (news), じじつ (fact), are described by a clause that is their content, with nothing missing: かれがひっこすはなし ("the story that he is moving"). These usually take という (Chapter 7): かれがひっこすというはなし.

4. Nested relative clauses

Because a relative clause is just a modifier, it can contain another one: build outward.

Step	Phrase
1	ほん
2	ともだちがかしたほん
3	きのうあったともだちがかしたほん
4	わたしがきのうあったともだちがかしたほん

Read from the right: the book → my friend lent it → I met that friend yesterday. Two or three levels are normal; more than that is hard to follow and is usually split into two sentences.

🗣️ In Use — つかいかた

Descriptions with clauses in front of the noun.

① Finding someone

A: たなかさんはどのひとですか。 Which one is Mr Tanaka?

B: あそこであかいセーターをきているひとです。 The person over there wearing the red sweater.

② A recommendation

A: このちかくにおいしいレストランはありますか。 Is there a good restaurant near here?

B: ともだちがよくいくレストランがありますよ。ラーメンがおいしいです。 There's a restaurant my friend often goes to. Its ramen is delicious.

③ Memories

A: はじめてあったひをおぼえていますか。 Do you remember the day we first met?

B: もちろん。あめがふっていたひでしたね。 Of course. It was a rainy day, wasn't it?

📋 Quick Reference

Rule	Example
Clause (plain form) + noun	きのうかったほん
The described noun's particle is deleted	ほんをかった → かったほん
Inner subject: が or の	ははが / ははのつくった
な-adj → な; noun → の	しずかなまち; がくせいのひと
Content nouns (はなし, うわさ, …)	〜というはなし (Chapter 7)
Nesting	わたしがあったともだちがかしたほん

✍️ Practice — れんしゅう

Try each one, then click to check.

1. Make a relative clause from ははがケーキをつくりました。 describing the cake.

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ははがつくったケーキ

2. Describe the person: ひとがピアノをひいています。

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ピアノをひいているひと

3. Describe the town: そふはまちにすんでいます。

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そふがすんでいるまち (に is deleted).

4. Describe the shop: きのうみせでパンをかいました。

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きのうパンをかったみせ (で deleted).

5. Describe the friend: ともだちとえいがをみました。

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えいがをみたともだち (と deleted).

6. Rewrite the subject with の: あめがふるひ

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あめのふるひ

7. Say "the reason I didn't go" using りゆう.

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いかなかったりゆう

8. Say "the day I got married" (けっこんする) using ひ.

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けっこんしたひ

9. Say "the book that the friend I met yesterday lent me" (nest two clauses).

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きのうあったともだちがかしたほん

10. Which sentence is wrong and why? (a) すんでいるまちをすきです。 (b) すんでいるまちがすきです。

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(a): すき marks the thing liked with が, not を.

Coming up in Chapter 3: Reasons and Purposes. から, ので, ため(に), のに, 〜ように, and how reasons work in polite and plain speech.

Relative Clauses