Particles and noun-modifiers

Question

This morning I read a sentence translated as follows:

私は 部屋{へや} に かざる物{もの} を あげました。

I offered her things to decorate her room.

It made me think about the following different English sentence, which I would translate to the same sentence in Japanese:

In her room, I offered her things to decorate.

---

There was also this sentence which I thought wasn't as confusing as the previous one:

私は 旅行{りょこう} の 時{とき} 持{も}って行{い}く 物{もの} を あげました。

I offered her things to bring when she travels.

I assumed the absence of に between 時{とき} and 持{も}って行{い}く was the reason that it couldn't be translated as follows:

While traveling, I offered her things to bring. (Doesn't make much sense, but it's just for the example)

---

I feel that I missed something. Those examples are actually easy to understand, but I fear that I could misunderstand more complex sentences.

• For the first example, how do I know the first translation is the right one, and not the other one?

• How can I differentiate between the time or place of the action, and what's just a part of the noun-modifier?

Answer 1

Note this important general difference between で and に when used to specify location:

• で indicates location, except for location of existence.

  • eg: デパートで働いています。

• に indicates the location where someone or something exists.

  • eg: その本は図書館にあります。 (ある is a verb of existence)

In your first example sentence, the verb is あげる. This is not a verb of existence, so you wouldn't use に to specify the location. Therefore, your second interpretation of the sentence is not possible.

In the second example sentence, the use of に after 時 is optional. Whether に is present or not does not change the meaning of the sentence. Whether it means "when she travels" or "when I travel" or "when we travel" (etc) is ambiguous, you just have to figure it out from context.

Answer 2

I know what you mean.
Unfortunately, Japanese sentences can be ambiguous, allowing multiple interpretations.
You have to find the interpretation that makes more sense, based on the context.
Unlike English, Japanese is highly dependent on context.

When parsing a sentence, in general you should try to find the longest clause possible.

For example instead of breaking apart (部屋に) (かざる物を), you should consider first the longest clause (部屋にかざる物を).