Questions tagged [relative-clauses]
連体修飾節（関係節）. A type of subordinate clause which modifies a noun phrase.
206
questions
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1answer
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difference between のか/か in question clause
i want to settle this once and for all since i cant find any legitimate source about this grammar pattern and i see very different answers online.
some say they are interchangable, some say the nuance ...
7
votes
2answers
121 views
Does Japanese mark restrictive and non-restrictive relatives differently?
I was wondering whether Japanese distinguishes restrictive and non-restrictive relative clauses in some way, either structurally or prosodically.
English, for example, marks the distinction ...
0
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1answer
115 views
Can relative clauses be nested without particles in between?
I searched for other questions about nested relative clauses, and while they seem possible, most examples seem to have particles inside the nested structure:
ワインが詳しい人と飲む機会がないので、楽しみにしています。
Here we ...
4
votes
1answer
170 views
Arithmetic and relative clauses
Consider the following sentence:
八引く一は七です。
Eight minus one is seven.
This doesn't seem to obey the usual grammar rules. If I think of 引く as a verb meaning 'to subtract' then I have a relative clause ...
2
votes
1answer
93 views
How to say “She is the girl I said I like.”?
I have some questions about relative clauses. How can I express "She is the girl I said (to you) I like"?
This is my attempt
僕はこの女子が好きなんですよ
I like this girl.
彼女は僕が好きな女子なんですよ
She is the ...
3
votes
1answer
90 views
Relative clause vs. の to “categorize” a noun
According to my low level of Japanese, I know two ways to "categorize" a noun with an another noun + adjective:
髪が長い男の人が少しいる。
長い髪の男の人が少しいる。
Are these two sentences grammatically correct? ...
3
votes
1answer
97 views
Use of は in indirect quotes
This question had the following example:
人間に上下はないと考えるアメリカ人にとって、日本の目上と目下の関係は面倒だろう ?
and the OP was asking about the meaning of は. I'd like to expand on this.
Firstly, I'm assuming that 上下は is part of ...
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1answer
87 views
Syntactic structure of “what is something which is done”
What is this sentence syntactic structure?
お国では何語を話すのですか。
If what the sentence is all about is "which language", why does the action verb ("to talk") need to be nominalized?
I ...
1
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1answer
47 views
Can we use a comma to separate the noun of a relative clause verb?
「ひとはだれしもが、心に灯台を持っている。その光に従って生きるだけで幸福になれる」と信じる著者が綴った、奇跡のファンタジー体験ノベル！
Is the comma after 綴った separating the 奇跡のファンタジー体験ノベル from 綴った, or the sentence ends in 綴った?
Also, how can I translate ...
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1answer
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How can there be 2 X が in this sentence? [duplicate]
This sentence is an excerpt from https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/easy/k10012813311000/k10012813311000.html
京都大学の西浦博教授は、東京都でこれから新しいコロナウイルスがうつる人がどのように変わるか計算しました。
Is my understanding correct?
うつる人が is the ...
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1answer
65 views
Meaning of もの in this sentence
The sentence is:
芸術は思いをかたちにするもの
What does this mean? Does it mean "Art is about giving form to thoughts/feeling", "Art is the thing that gives thoughts/feeling form.
I am unsure of ...
2
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1answer
68 views
Long relative clause grammar rules
This is a sentence from Tobira's book ch11 読み物.
江戸時代は約250年も続き、当時の江戸は世界中で一番人口の多い、独自の芸術文化が発達した清潔で文化レベルの高い都市だったと言われている
The part that confuses me is 独自の芸術文化が発達した清潔で文化レベルの高い都市. So far I know that you can ...
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votes
1answer
77 views
Is the sequence -んだと missing?
I found this sentence in a textbook:
来月までには出来あがらないと思います。
It was translated as "I think that we'll not make it until next month".
But the と particle after the negated verb is confusing me. I ...
2
votes
2answers
87 views
Mixed modifiers with a noun
Can you do that, modify a noun by mixing modifiers?
Say, something like this:
昨日買ったきれいな白い夫子の帽子
昨日買った
きれいな
しろい
夫子の
each is modifying 帽子.
2
votes
1answer
83 views
Syntax of 住み心地のいい小さな家
I was randomly reading a grammar book (despite I'm still being in N5) and found the follow sentence:
住み心地のいい小さな家
The sentence was alone, without context, and it was translated to something like "...
3
votes
1answer
340 views
Can the passive agent be gapped?
Can the passive agent be gapped in a relative clause? I mean, can the head of a relative clause be the passive agent (the word that would be marked by に)?
2
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0answers
55 views
Explanation for 変わった and 似た as adjectivals
I often see the two verbs 変わる and 似る used in their た-form when modifying nouns and I'm not really sure exactly how to make sense of them.
変わる: e.g. as in 「変わった人」. Here I'm wondering why it's not just ...
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2answers
141 views
Verbs joined with くて and modifying a noun
I understand that くて joins verbs but what happens if they modify a noun? For example:
お金がなくて食べない料理 - I don't have money and hence this is food that I won't eat
見た目がなくて届かない想い - I don't have the looks ...
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1answer
159 views
Can't understand why this sentence is written this way
The sentence I am talking about is ジュースが出る大きいな桃 .
I don't understand why 大きいな桃 is written at the end. I would say something like:
ジュースが大きいな桃から出る
Thanks
0
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1answer
103 views
Which of the following forms are allowed in relative clauses?
I recently discovered that Relative clauses are mostly made with dictionary form verbs/adjectives, but [the answer here]says my “...
sentence indeed has three relative clauses marked by (1), (2), and ...
0
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1answer
120 views
Is the 出し in the following sentence a relative clause?
Is the 出し -which I believe to be 出す- in the following text a relative clause, as the 行動 is a noun?
「ここにじっとしていてもしょうがない………か」
自分を奮い立たせるために、わざと自分の考えを声に出し行動を始めた。
7
votes
1answer
131 views
Ambiguity when describing with verbs, e.g. 酒を飲ませる人
Here's a small thing I never thought about for too long as I always kinda dismissed it due to the context usually being clear enough, but now I've gotten curious and I figured I'd ask away:
Let's take ...
2
votes
1answer
118 views
Why is the particle omitted in this relative clause?
I am doing this exercise from wasabi-jpn.com. The exercise includes this sentence:
The sweater (I) bought last week was expensive.
Apparently, the correct answer is
先週買ったセーターは高かったです。
I realize that ...
0
votes
1answer
150 views
Can I use a relative clause like this?
Let's say I wanted to render the sentence "Money's worth what we make it worth." into Japanese. I'd break it down like so:
money-topic 貨幣は
is worth-suru verb 値打ちする
"what we make it ...
1
vote
1answer
85 views
Please help me to deconstruct the grammar of this relative clause: この法律に違反する可能性がある政治の団体が活動をやめています。
This is an excerpt from an NHK easy article talking about the new law passed in Hong Kong:
この法律に違反する可能性がある政治の団体が活動をやめています。
この法律に this law
違反する可能性がある政治の団体が活動 activities (by?) government groups (...
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vote
1answer
77 views
Noun or Adjective?
I am new to qualifying nouns.
Why is the adjective of 好きな used here instead of just 好き as a noun?
猫が好きな女の人は私の友達です
Does that means it is wrong to say:
猫が好きあの女の人は私の友達です
I am used to seeing 猫が好き,...
1
vote
1answer
86 views
Can a て conjunction be used in a relative clause?
I considered a situation where two modifying clauses are joined by a て conjunction and wondered if such a thing was too ambiguous to be commonly used. (Brackets show what is being used as a modifying ...
3
votes
1answer
116 views
Can one noun be modified by both a clause and a の marked noun?
I have tried to create a sentence wherein a noun is modified by both a clause and の marked noun, but found it to be difficult with my current understanding:
Intended sentence: I stole the king’s ...
4
votes
1answer
205 views
Object of a sentence ambiguity
The sentence: 守りたいのはあなた
This sentence can either mean "The one I want to protect is you" or it can mean "the one who wants to protect (someone else) is you". Any way to distinguish besides context?
0
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1answer
103 views
Is the main clause in the relative clause construct an actual clause?
I know that relative clause compounds are generally made with the following format.
sentence/verb/adjective + noun
My Genki I textbook supports this with the following example of a relative ...
2
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0answers
67 views
Relative clause confusion: “whose company I am leaving” or “who is leaving the company” [closed]
I came across this one in a study book:
本日、退社することになりました社長を初め皆様には本当にお世話になりました。
The translation reads 'Today I am leaving the company, and I would like to thank not only the President, but everybody.' ...
2
votes
3answers
214 views
The meaning of ”あれは魔術師に与えられた祝福”
I translated the sentence "あれは魔術師に与えられた祝福” to something along the line of "That is something that was given a blessing by a sorcerer" but in the translation that I compared it to, the translator ...
3
votes
1answer
143 views
Relative Clauses and Adjective Placement
How would you add adjectives inside a relative clause to the thing being modified? Is the placement set?
For example, in this sentence, can "new" come directly before computer (1) or should it be ...
3
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2answers
159 views
Question about 変な奴だって思う子がいたら
Im reading a manga called Yotsubato and this phrase occurs when Yotsuba dad is talking to a girl witch is his neighbour.
He says: 変な奴だって思う子がいたら.
The meaning is: If you see a girl that makes you ...
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vote
2answers
149 views
verbs with adjectival function?
In the sentence "忘れられない夜にする" does the verb "忘れる" have the function of an adjective? What is the meaning of the phrase? Is there any way to make verbs have a Japanese adjectival function?
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1answer
226 views
負かした俺: who beat whom in this relative clause?
Context: Riku is a boxer of Baba gym. Tokorozawa is a retired boxer of Baba gym. Ishigami is a retired boxer of an unmentioned gym. Tokorozawa beat Ishigami in the past. Recently, Tokorozawa asked a ...
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1answer
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How to say “the one I sent the letter to”
I sent him the letter - 彼に手紙を送ってあげた
He was the one who sent me the letter - 手紙を送ってくれたのは、彼だった
He was the one I sent the letter to - ???
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2answers
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Is 誰か行きたい人 a form of double-headed relative clause?
I came across the phrase "誰か行きたい人" in this thread and I think it would be used in a context like
"誰か行きたい人がいるか？".
However I am kind of confused by how it works grammatically.
Is 誰か行きたい a relative ...
5
votes
2answers
288 views
Aren't 「から」 and 「ので」 closer to the meaning of “because” rather than “so”?
To my understanding all particles affect the word or clause that appears before them: 「駅から家まで行く。」 means "I'll go from the station to my house" rather than "I'll go the station from house to go".
So ...
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1answer
302 views
Help parsing a sentence with two を
Context: in the Dead Tube manga, a villain is talking about how she turned people into zombies by giving them a hallucinogenic drug and explains that they are "contagious".
...
3
votes
1answer
151 views
What tense of a verb should be used in the subordinate clause?
In the following example, what tense of the verb should be used: past or non-past? If both are possible will the meaning change?
Children will eat anything their mother brings home.
...
5
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1answer
701 views
How to say “Why I started studying Japanese”
I have a Japanese assignment that requires me to write about anything I want. I decided that I wanted to write about why I want to learn Japanese. I think the title should be "Why I want to study ...
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2answers
211 views
The exquisite depths of 和菓子's mind
Consider the following quote from this article:
和菓子は季節とともに変化するもの。パッと見て何を模したかわかる形もあれば、どんな意味が込められているのか考えるものもあり……。
As I understand it, the last clause is supposed to mean "there are ones (ie. certain ...
2
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1answer
220 views
Meaning for 昔から大好きな親戚の姉さん
I sometimes hear 姉さん used as just another way of addressing an older woman but I don't understand the usage of 親戚の姉さん. 親戚(shinseki) is relative so does Shinseki no Nesan mean the literal older sister ...
2
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2answers
195 views
Help with showing lack of a 'because' construct in translating the bolded sentence?
Two characters are having the following conversation:
A:「あなたにも殺し屋になってもらうの。ツヴァイ」
“You too will become a assassin. Zwei.”
B:「馬鹿言うなよ……。なんで僕が、そんなことやらなきゃならないんだよ⁉」
“Don’t say something so ...
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1answer
152 views
Which clause is the だけ in 身の危険が迫った時にだけ発現する能力だから attached to?
身の危険が迫った時にだけ発現する能力だから
I know there are two relative clauses in the above sentence, as shown below.
Example structure is [verb/sentence]noun/main clause]
Relative clause 1: [身の危険が迫った]時]
...
3
votes
2answers
210 views
Questions about Noun+が+Adjective
Here is a phrase:
ねだんが たかいレストランは あまり すきじゃない
I don't like high price restaurant very much
Now, the questions.
If I used たかいねだん レストラン, would it be wrong? Or would mean something different?
The が ...
3
votes
1answer
113 views
Is it possible to make a relative clause & main clause using a formal noun, such as はず?
I know that a relative clause and main clause are formed when you have a construct of [sentence/verb] + noun in Japanese. While attempting to translate the following sentence, I found three of the ...
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1answer
343 views
Is the function of this ある a pre-noun adjectival, or is it a verb that forms a relative clause?
I'm going over my previously done translations to see if any need further editing, and the following comes up.
背後{はいご}で聞{き}き覚{おぼ}えのある声{こえ}がして、思{おも}わず一歩後{いっぽあと}ずさってしまった。
I relearned yesterday that ...
3
votes
1answer
150 views
Using prepositions in relative clauses?
Example:
Let's say I want to reference "the bridge that I ran underneath".
I would presume that the sentence would be:
下に走った橋
I feel like there's a lot of ambiguity here, but I guess that's ...
