Components

Grammar detail: relative clause word order

relative clause word order
286 words
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Structure
plain form clause
+
noun
レストランの前にいる人the person in front of the restaurant
昨日行ったビーチthe beach we went to yesterday
本が入っている
はこ
the box that the books are in
The above examples illustrate the word order for forming a relative clause in Japanese. The noun always comes after the modifying clause. The nouns in the above examples are 人, ビーチ and
はこ
. Before each noun is a verb in its plain form.
Let's look at further examples of relative clauses within sentences.
これ
わたし
きのう
昨日
んだ
ほん

This is the book which I read last night.
これ
わたし
さが
していた
ほん

This is the book I've been looking for.
In the above examples 本 is the modified noun. By removing the embedded clause we are left with the simple sentence これは本だ。We can see here that これ is the topic of the sentence. The modifying clauses within each sentence are
わたし
きのう
昨日
んだ本 (the book that I read yesterday) and
わたし
さが
していた本 (the book that I've been looking for). The particle が is used with the subject of the relative clause, so in these examples it is placed after 私. We can see this use of が again in the next sentence.
わたし
にほん
日本
もくてき
目的
きょうと
京都
けんぶつ
見物
する
ことです
I came to Japan to see Kyoto.
In the above sentence the relative clause is positioned before the topic of the sentence -
もくてき
目的
. 私 is followed by が because 私 is the subject of the relative clause - 私が
にほん
日本
た: (I came to Japan). This modifies 目的 to become 私が日本に来た目的は. Translated directly it is 'my coming to Japan purpose'; in other words, 'the reason that I came to Japan'
Relative clauses also frequently occur in questions, such as in the two below. In the first question the clause is すみに
っている人 (the person sitting in the corner). In the second question it is
さくや
昨夜
見た
えいが
映画
(the movie you saw last night).
すみ
すわ
っている
ひと
だれ
です
Who is the man sitting in the corner?
さくや
昨夜
えいが
映画
たの
しかった
です
Did you enjoy the movie you saw last night?
More example sentences:
みぎがわ
右側
ある
たてもの
建物
がっこう
学校

The building on the right side is a school.
この
ほん
いた
ひと
いしゃ
医者
です
The man who wrote this book is a doctor.
しゅっせき
出席
していた
ひと
たち
おどろ
いた

The people present were surprised.
この
ひと
くるま
ぬす
んだ
いわれている
ひと
です
This is the man who they say stole the car.
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Kanji used in this grammar

ゼン   まえ before   
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ジン   ニン   ひと person   
サク    yesterday   
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ニチ   ジツ   sun; day   ひ    -か    
コウ   ギョウ   アン   ゆ    い to go   おこな to take place   
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ホン   book   もと origin   
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ニュウ   い to enter   はい to enter   いれる to put in   
はこ box   
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シ   わたくし    わたし I, myself   
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ドク   トク   トウ   よ to read   
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タン   さぐ to grope for   さが to search for   
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ボク   モク   eye   ま-    め    
テキ   まと target   
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ライ   く to come   きた to be forthcoming   きた to induce   
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ザ   すわ to sit   
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ヤ   よる    よ night   
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ケン   み to see   みえる to be seen; to appear   みせる to show   
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エイ   はえる to shine   うつ to be reflected   うつ to reflect, project   
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ガ   カク   draw
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キョウ   ケイ    capital   
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ト   ツ   みやこ capital city, metropolis   
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ブツ   モツ   もの thing   
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だれ who   
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ガク   ラク    music   たのしい happy, pleasant   たのしむ to be happy   
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ウ   ユウ   みぎ right   
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ソク   がわ side   
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ケン   コン   た to be built   たてる to build   
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ガク   まな to learn   
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コウ    exam   
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ショ   か to write   
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イ    doctor   
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シャ   もの person, someone   
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シュツ   スイ   だ to take out, to put out   で to go out, to exit   
セキ    seat   
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キョウ   surprised   おどろ to be surprised   おどろかす to surprise, to frighten   
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シャ   くるま car   
トウ   ぬす to steal   
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