Questions tagged [subordinate-clauses]

従属節. Clauses subordinate in form and unaffected by main clause phenomena such as topicalization.

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が in subordinate clauses

Since you can't use は in subordinate clauses, it looks to me like が is forced to take on both roles, so how would we distinguish them? For example, if we have the sentence 僕が好きな動物 how do we ...
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Parenthetical Statements in Japanese

I'm wondering how you would use parenthetical statements in Japanese. In English, commas are used, as in the sentence: Tanaka-san is, for obvious reasons, a good person. He took the train to work, as ...
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~か ~かどうか 相対テンスの質問

僕は任務を完成したかどうかを確認しました。 I checked if you had finished the mission. 僕は任務を完成するかどうかを確認しました。 I checked if you would finish the mission. 僕は沖縄さんがドーナツを食べるかどうかを確認しました。 I checked if 沖縄さん ate donuts. ...
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clause ending 分

まあ桃は普段から笑顔な分、つかみ所のないやつだがら多少気持ちはわかるけど。(talking about how people can find momo hard to deal with) 基本が少ない分、技術が必要なんだよね。ま、そういうわけでクロールとかに比べれば平泳ぎは持久性あるよ (talking about the breatstroke relative to the ...
charu's user avatar
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Usage of を in 自らを豊作を司る

I came across this while reading 「狼と香辛料」and was confused by the usage of を in the sentence below: 少女は狼の耳と尻尾を有した美しい娘で、自らを豊作を司る神ホロと名乗った。 In particular I'm interested in 「自らを豊作を司る」which I would ...
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Unsure about this usage of か

I recently encountered this sentence: 床には血痕が残っている。かなり時間が経つのか血が固まっている。 I believe I understand that the second part is saying the blood is dry (or has hardened) because quite some time has passed. I'...
Oren Ronen's user avatar
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Why can の and が both mark subjects in relative clauses?

夢のある人 and 夢がある人 I understand that both have obviously the same meaning, but why is it also correct to use の, which, as I learned, has the function of either a possessive particle or of a ...
thz's user avatar
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Can someone verify the reasons I give for using a "wa" and "ga" in this sentence?

私の生みの母は、若い未婚の日本人だったため、私を養子に出そうと決心したのです。彼女がこだわったのは、私の養子先は日本に住んでいる家族でなければ、ということでした。 The highlighted "は" looks to be there for thematic reasons? The highlighted "ga" looks to be there for neutral ...
Just Someone's user avatar
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Should the tense of predicate in main clause be the same as the tense of predicate in the relative clause?

It is a very basic question that I need to be confirmed. Consider the following sentence (taken from a book titled Essential Japanese Grammar by Masahiro Tanimori and Eriko Sato). ...
Display Name's user avatar
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Is nominalization necessary in 「彼が戻るのか知らないんです。」?

Do we need to nominalize 彼が戻る with の to create an interrogative clause? Is B not enough? A: 彼が戻るのか知らないんです。 B: 彼が戻るか知らないんです。
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"~たい"-form and associated particle usage

My question is about the "~たい"-form ("want to"). I know that in a sentence containing this form, you can use は to mark the person who desires something. For example, "私は、東京に行きたい". But then I came ...
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相対テンス in 名詞修飾 is also true when it comes to アスペクト(テイル) or other forms like 〜てしまう, etc?

According to 初級を教える人のための日本語文法ハンドブック, in Japanese, 名詞修飾 is mostly 相対テンス, and sometimes 絶対テンス if that is the only way where the context can make sense. However, it says it only discusses テンス, but not ...
vincentlin's user avatar
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「は」vs 「が」 in subordinate clauses

I'm confused about「は」vs「が」 in subordinate clauses. Here are a few examples from (very basic) grammar books: 僕が 電話したとき、ナツミは もういなかった。When I called, Natsumi had already left. 弟が 日本に来たら、私は 日光に連れて行きたい。...
oh no the klaxons's user avatar
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〜を。。。だ inside a と言う clause

In the ASK Graded Reader ゴン狐, the following sentence appears: 魚売りは、おれを泥棒だと言って、。。。 I have seen that using を。。。と言う is like saying 'to call somebody something.' My issue is that there is a だ at the end ...
frog's user avatar
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An unclear form in a song

In「命火眩暈」by 杏ノ助, there are the following lines. 頽るる松、 甲羅なき亀 御簾を上げれど けふも宵 The other text is perfectly imitating a Sengoku-period Late Middle Japanese with occasional classical. However, this ...
Alexander Z.'s user avatar
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Indirect question marked with かが

My questions relate to the following two sentences taken from the website referenced below. The goal of the lesson was to explain the uses of ということ but I'm more concerned with the choice of particles ...
G-Cam's user avatar
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Parsing and making sense of this sentence with multiple が's

So I was signing up for an account at a website, and I came across this line: 写真があった方があなたがどんな人なのかわかるし、フレンドも作りやすくなります。 I have never come across a sentence with 3 が's in it, much less one with 3 of ...
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"correct" formation of questions

A comment in some vb.net code is as follows: 現在の時刻が設定時間と一致しているか確認する Meaning, (the following bit of code) checks if the current time matches the configured one. According to what I learnt from ...
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Can I use こと or の to say "Everyone said that ~"?

I study japanese on my own, so i dont really have a teacher to correct my sentences. I am trying coming up with some sentences to help me fixating things on my mind. So I want to make the following ...
Felipe Chaves de Oliveira's user avatar
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Why is は used in phrases with はず, if they are formal nouns that take a subordinate clause?

Based on what I understand, formal nouns like はず take up a subordinate clause, therefore taking が to mark the subject, but when I see examples such as あの人は若いはず or あの本は高かったはずだ It makes it look like ...
eringieringi's user avatar
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On the interaction between tense harmony and factivity in (dialects of) Japanese

First of all, I'm a linguist asking a VERY technical question, so I'll do my best to make myself understood. I'd prefer if commenters made it clear what their level of Japanese is (native, advanced, ...
user242292's user avatar
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Can someone help break down this sentence どこにあるか知っていますか?

どこにあるか知っていますか? I couldn't understand the usage of か after ある
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だ versus な in causal subordinate clauses

Why do causal subordinate clauses ending in -から take だ as a means to connect nouns and な adjectives (e.g. 日本人だから), whereas causal subordinate clauses ending in -ので take な (e.g. 日本人なので)? I read that だ ...
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「か」 or 「と」 as a subordinate clause?

When making a statement like: I thought I had gone to the cinema. Do you say: 映画館{えいがかん}に行った{いった}と思いました{おもいました}。 or: 映画館{えいがかん}に行った{いった}か思いました{おもいました}。 And how does it work with other ...
MeRay's user avatar
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What does のと mean in this context?

I was reading a children's book in Japanese and found this sentence: 明日になったら、町へ行って、木の実の干したのと、便せんを交換できないか聞いてみよう。 I understand most of it, except the part that says "木の実の干したのと". I know 木の実 ...
221victoria's user avatar
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1 answer
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Subordinate clauses that are not for comparison - should we use が or は?

In a subordinate clause, が is often used. However, some sentences with けど or のに are used with は because they are for comparison. But it seems to me that some sentences with けど or のに are not for ...
vincentlin's user avatar
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Is どんなことでも失敗したら a whole clause or two separate clauses?

Is the sentence どんなことでも失敗したら、人のせいにしてはなりません。read as: [どんなことでも][失敗したら]、人のせいにしてはなりません。 = [No matter what][if you fail], don't blame people. or [どんなことでも失敗したら]、人のせいにしてはなりません。 = [No matter how you fail], ...
raruna's user avatar
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Modifying individual nouns in の strings

I haven't seen any examples that make use of this, nor have I seen any evidence to the contrary, so I thought I'd ask about it. I know that の basically connects nouns and makes them all 1 noun that ...
Museum of Truisms's user avatar
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1 answer
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Should I use honorifics to say (言う 'iu') for subordinate clauses?

When I use という to-iu, for example: これと同{おな}じ「草{くさ}」というものがここに生{は}えますか? Kore to onaji “kusa” to-iu mono ga kokoni haemasu ka? Does something like this so-called “grass” grow around here? Should ...
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A complex structure: Xが~するYについて、~する者は

So I'm reading the One Punch Man manga to learn some vocabulary. I have the Portuguese translation and I compare it with my translation. But I read something that I think is wrong in the Portuguese ...
Legust's user avatar
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Sentence structure + 人がわるい

Related to this. At this point, the speaker has won the preliminaries. The elderly chairman of the event, a friend since the previous tournament, comments that the speaker has won a second time (...
Andrea's user avatar
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What is the use of ごと in this clause?

This is the whole phrase and the sentence I don't understand is in bold: そして、コルド大王の息子で 悪の帝王と呼ばれるフリーザは 千年に一度あらわれるという 「超サイア人」のウワサを不快に思い、 サイア人を、 彼らが住む惑星ベジータごと、 宇宙から消滅させてしまうーーーー。 So "消滅させて" ...
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Is “まだ物が揃わず” a clause of “家がまだ物が揃わず不便ですが”?

Context: 家がまだ物が揃わず不便ですが、ネットで買えるので便利ですね! "が" marks a subject, and a sentence has only one subject. There are two "が" in this sentence, is it because "まだ物が揃わず" is a clause? ...
Theseus's user avatar
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Is it possible to use が twice in a subordinate clause?

Is it possible to use double が within the same subordinate clause, or is it grammatically incorrect/awkward? For example: 私が目が覚めたとき。。。 私が腹が立つとき。。。 彼が腹が黒いのに。。。 Is there a context in which these may ...
Tata's user avatar
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If a time adverb is used in an adjective clause, you have to use ていた instead of ている - does this rule apply to normal verbs?

According to this website (I think it is 初級を教える人のための日本語文法ハンドブック), if a time adverb is used in an adjective clause, you have to use ていた. https://learn-the-basics-of-japanese.blogspot.com/p/s71-1-123a1-...
vincentlin's user avatar
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彼がいる場所、彼がいるその場所、彼がいる学校

I am trying to understand what makes a 文節 内の関係 or 外の関係. And if 外の関係, which one. 彼がいる場所 彼女と初めて会ったところ Am I correct in thinking these two can only be 外の関係の内容補充修飾節, because I can't put the 被修飾名詞 back ...
Eddie Kal's user avatar
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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 ...
Luke McAloon's user avatar
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What nuance does the が particle add in the following sentence? At what time would each sentence be more appropriate?

両親は結婚した時、どこにも行きませんでした。 VS 両親が結婚した時、どこにも行きませんでした。
Faizaan A.'s user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
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Chaining sentences, and past form

I knew that you were/are an angel I thought about using the te-form and then simply chain the two sentences "I knew" and "you are an angel" together. (私は)知りまして、君は天使です I'm not ...
AnotherStudent's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
250 views

は in 名詞節 (content clauses)

I'm not sure what I'm missing here, but 来年の1月には35歳になりますが、サッカーは年齢じゃないということを証明していきたいですし、若い選手に負けないように頑張りたいと思います。(source) 我々はお荷物じゃないことを証明しよう。 Aren't those 名詞節? Is the rule about は not occurring in ...
Eddie Kal's user avatar
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Particle omission in embedded questions [duplicate]

Are there any rules or conventions on when to omit を (as in 1) or が (as in 2) when it comes to embedded questions? この生物は何か教えてください。 どれがおいしいかまずいかさっぱりわかりません。 My gut feeling would be to generalize and ...
Daphne's user avatar
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は or が in the example "朝起きるとき、鳥 ( ) いつも歌います"?

Following up on my earlier question, I want to check if I've got a feel for this subordinate clause particle use correct. This is probably a duplicate, but it really helps me understand things better ...
oh no the klaxons's user avatar
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1 answer
326 views

"私が知っている人" or "私の知っている人"?

I have been reading What's the difference between wa (は) and ga (が)? In the "contrastive wa" section, there is this example sentence: わたしが知っている人はパーティーに来ませんでした。 As 7600+ people have read that ...
david.t's user avatar
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3 answers
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"Understand that..." in Japanese

I'm wondering about this specific piece of grammar. I think you use "wakaru", but what do you use it with? Do you use a particle, like "to" or maybe some other construction? For example, if you ...
Dice's user avatar
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What is this ~れ verb form used in the middle of the sentence? Is it ~られて/~れて without the て?

I saw this sentence in a light novel. 浮遊感に穏やかに包まれ、玉響の安息。 What is this verb form 「包まれ」? It looks like it's supposed to be 「包まれて」but with the て dropped. I've seen this form every now and then, but I ...
littlecatte's user avatar
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1 answer
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その店で去年{○働いていた/×働いている}男性がテレビに出た。 - why is that?

According to this website (I think it is 初級を教える人のための日本語文法ハンドブック), if there are no time adverbs in an adjective clause, you have to use ていた or ている to mean an action in the past. However, if a time ...
vincentlin's user avatar
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1 answer
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Is there a good reason why I can use a polite form before から but not before ので? [duplicate]

Does anybody know why - historically, etymologically or logically - one can use polite forms (e.g. -ます) in causal subordinate clauses before から, while one must use the plain form before ので?
Pregunto's user avatar
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What is the use of か in 売り始めるか〜

I was reading an article and I came across this sentence: 車の会社がいつごろこのような自動運転の車を売り始めるか予想しました What exactly does the か in this sentence/what is the meaning?
3x14's user avatar
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Help for a translation [closed]

I'm reading Install from Risa Wataya and right from the start, there's a sentence I had to read many many times before I could make any sense out of it: 「...
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