Relative Clauses

"Relative Clauses", hearing those two words makes almost every Japanese 2nd language student shake with fear. I, too, had quite a fair bit of difficulty with this topic until I just suddenly understood it (that’s the second time something like that’s happened in my lifetime). I’ve had a number of requests to post an entry on this topic and so your requests have been answered. Without further ado, let’s begin…

 

I’ve decided to omit the part about explaining what relative clauses are, as if you have actually attempted this topic before you should know what they are already. The only thing I will state about it, and should be kept in mind throughout this tutorial, is that relative clauses come before the noun that it describes in Japanese, and after the noun that it describes in English.

 

Identifying Relative Clauses

 

I have noticed that while textbooks and teachers go to great lengths to explain this topic to students, not a single one that I have seen (except for my Japanese tutor) has stated quite an obvious fact which I believe is key to understanding this topic.

 

Every sentence in standard/honourific Japanese (slang is not included in these categories, therefore does not necessarily adhere to the following rule) ends with either a verb or です (or でございます in honourific Japanese, which is – in actual fact – a verb as well) without exception. Verbs are not allowed to be placed somewhere else in a sentence unless they are in some sort of connective form (eg: 1st ~て form (remembering that there are 3 different ~て forms) , ~たり form, etc.). Relative clauses defy this rule by having another sentence (usually smaller than the main one, hence called a "clause") that ends with a verb not in its connective form placed within the main sentence being written directly before a noun. Let’s look at an example:

 

今読んでいる本はおもしろいです。

 

As you can see, in this sentence there is a verb, 読んでいる ("am reading"), placed directly before the noun 本 ("book"). Everything that comes before that noun is the relative clause because it has a verb that is not in any connective form directly before it. If that verb had’ve been in a connective form, then it is not a relative clause. Relative clauses generally begin at the start of a sentence and finish where there is a verb not in connective form directly next to a noun. However the one major exception is that, as the particle は defines the topic of the sentence, relative clauses may in some cases begin directly after the particle は rather than at the start of the sentence (but it still finishes directly before a noun). Let’s look at another example:

 

姉の二十一才のたんじょう日パーティーで着たドレスを買いました。

 

Where is the relative clause in this sentence? Notice the verb 着る ("to wear") is in its past tense form, 着た. While this may look a little confusing, as the verb is not in its present tense form, it must be remembered that, in relative clauses, it doesn’t matter what tense the verb is in (nor does it matter if the verb is in its negative form). All that matters is that the verb is not in any connective form, otherwise – as stated before – it is not a relative clause. Next, notice how directly after 着た, there is the noun ドレス ("dress"). Therefore, as there is no particle は in this sentence, the relative clause begins at the start of the sentence and finishes at ドレス.

 

Writing Relative Clauses

 

Before actually translating the relative clauses that were identified in the previous examples, it is necessary to go over the steps for writing your own – as after learning how to write a relative clause, translating them becomes a much easier task.

 

It is recommended that you should try to use relative clauses in your written examination/oral examination. Since one of the marking criterion is how many different grammar patterns one uses – and how advanced they are – relative clauses are bound to get you more points. However, don’t just force them in your sentences! Examiners are cunning, they know when you force uncessary modifications into your sentences to state something simple. Also, relative clauses can quickly deplete your ji limit, so you should use them only when necessary.

 

Students often struggle to know how to write relative clauses, because they often believe that they are totally different to writing normal Japanese sentences. In actual fact, writing relative clauses follows the same rules for writing normal sentences. Rules for positioning of nouns, adjectives, verbs, etc. are all the same. However, due to the nature of relative clauses, there are quite a number of exceptions that one must adhere to when writing them. In many textbooks, these exceptions are referred to as "Rules For Writing Relative Clauses".

The following are the rules for writing relative clauses:

• In relative clauses, the verb that comes directly before the noun must be in plain form, it cannot be in ~ます form.
• eg 1: 今年勉強するかもく
• eg 2: きのう食べなかった食べ物
• ~な adjectives used in relative clauses must always be in present positive form. Past, negative and past negative usage is not allowed in the relative clause.
• eg 1:  母が好きなテレビ番ぐみ
• eg 2: やきゅうが上手な友だち
• So far we have only spoken about relative clauses ending with verbs (and very briefly on ~な adjectives). Relative clauses can have です come directly before the noun as well rather than a verb. In such cases, however, we cannot simply write  "~です + noun". です must first be changed to の in order to use it in a relative clause.
• eg 1: べんごしの人
• eg 2: かんごふの水木さん
• In a relative clause, using the particle は is not allowed. In order to make a subject for the relative clause, the particle が must be used where the particle は would normally be placed if it were allowed to be used.
• eg 1: みち子ちゃんが書いたえ
• eg 2: 田中様がのぼった山

Translating Relative Clauses and Sentences Containing Relative Clauses.

Sentences in Japanese which contain relative clauses vary in difficulty when translating. As stated near the beginning of this entry, relative clauses in English come after the noun, rather than before it like in Japanese.

Unlike Japanese, where there is no connective word/particle between the verb/~な adjective/の and the noun immediately after it, English sentences which contain a relative clause usually have a word in between the noun and the relative clause to connect them together. This connective word is usually "that". In addition, it should be noted that – when translating to English – the word "the" usually comes before the noun.  No matter what comes before the noun in Japanese (verb/~な adjective/の), all relative clauses are translated according to the general patterns:

The sentence in Japanese:

type 1: "relative clause" "noun" は "remainder of sentence" verb/です

type 2: "subject" は "relative clause" "noun" "remainder of sentence" verb/です

type 3: "relative clause" "noun" particle appropriate for verb verb

 

How the above types would be translated in English:

type 1: "noun" that "relative clause" is/verb  "remainder of sentence"

type 2: "subject" is verb "noun" that "relative clause"

type 3: verb "noun" that "relative clause"

 

When translating relative clauses on their own, the "remainder of sentence" part of each pattern above can be ignored, as the relative clause is not embedded in a regular sentence.

 

Examples of translating relative clauses and sentences containing relative clauses which have a verb directly before a noun

 

These are perhaps the easiest (and definately the type you will encounter most) to translate. ~たいです (" to want to do") verbs also fall into this category. Even though the です is present, it does not obey the rule of です –> の in relative clauses. Instead, the です is omitted. The following examples are just relative clauses with a noun:

 

今年勉強するかもく

"The subject that I am studying this year"

 

きのう食べなかった食べ物

"The food that I didn’t eat yesterday"

 

日本の本があるとしょかん

"The library that has Japanese books"

 

きのう飲みたくなかったくすり

"The medicine that I didn’t want to take yesterday"

 

The following examples are relative clauses within normal sentences:

 

今読んでいる本はおもしろいです。

"The book that I am reading now is interesting."

 

妹はあなたが先週見たえいがを見に行きます。

"My younger sister is going to see the movie that you saw last week."

 

姉の二十一才のたんじょう日パーティーで着たドレスを買いました。

"I bought the dress that I wore at my older sister’s 21st birthday." 

 

今日見たいえいがは「ナナ」と言います。

"The movie that I want to see today is called Nana." 

 

Coincidently, one of the more recent songs by JPop artist Mikuni Shimokawa has a relative clause in its title. The song’s title is きみにふくかぜ, which is translated as "The wind that blows you" (fans of Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu should be familiar with this song, as it is the series’ first ending theme).

 

Examples of translating relative clauses and sentences containing relative clauses which have a ~な adjective directly before a noun

 

These forms of relative clauses were not discussed in depth earlier mainly becuase they contradicted the principles discussed (they don’t end with です and hence are considered slang on their own). However, if a ~な adjective is contained within a relaive clause (meaning that it comes directly before the noun instead of a verb or の), the politeness level is not affected. The main concern with these forms of relative clauses is that it might be possible to accidently translate the sentence as a normal sentence containing a ~な adjective. Consider the phrase "きれいな花". If we translated this as a normal sentence it would be "pretty flower". However, if we thought of this phrase containing a relative clause, it would be translated as "the flower that is pretty". So, how do we solve this problem? Generally, it is the context in which the sentence is in that confirms the way the sentence should be translated. For example, consider the sentence やきゅうが上手な友だち. You would not translate 上手な友だち as "skillful friend", as the rest of the sentence would no longer make sense. Therefore, the sentence should be translated as "the friend who is skilled at baseball". Likewise, in the sentence 私の家はきれいなだいどころがある, translating きれいなだいどころ as "the kitchen that is clean" does not fit in with the rest of the sentence, and therefore the sentence should be translated as "my house has a clean kitchen". Therefore, translating these sentences depends significantly on your initiative and common sense.

The following are some examples of these types of relative clauses and their translations:

 

母が好きなテレビ番ぐみ

"The television program that my mother likes"

 

まり子ちゃんが下手なスポーツはたいそうです。

"The sport that Mariko is unskilled at is gymnastics."

 

兄が大好きなえいがは「下弦の月 ~ ラスト･クォーター」と言います。

"The movie that my older brother loves is called Kagen no Tsuki ~ Last Quarter."

 

Note: this tutorial does not include relative clauses ending with ~い adjectives, as the VCE textbooks do not include it and as such may not be required knowledge for VCE. However, the VCE textbooks are often ambiguous and therefore this cannot be confirmed. I have a strong feeling you can use ~い adjectives in relative clauses as you can with ~な adjectives. However, due to insufficient resources (and my tutor being away in Japan), I cannot confirm this either. So, if possible, refrain from using ~い adjectives in your relative clauses. There are many ~な adjectives with the same meaning as ~い adjectives, so you should not have any problems. Should you encounter ~い adjective relative clauses in the exam (this is extremely unlikely, but examiners are cunning), the safest thing to do is to translate it in the same way as the ones with ~な adjectives.

 

Examples of translating relative clauses and sentences containing relative clauses which have の directly before a noun

 

The most important issue with translating these forms of relative clauses is that when the relative clause ends with です, です must be substituted for の instead. This form of の must not be confused with the particle の that represents possession. The problems encountered with relative clauses ending in の are similar to the problems that can be encountered with relative clauses ending wth ~な adjectives. For example, the phrase べんごしの人 would be incorrectly translated as "lawyer’s person". Its correct translation would be "the person who is a lawyer". Once again, distinguishing between relative clause の and the possessive particle の and translating accordingly will require initiative and common sense.

 

かんごふの水木さんは毎週の土曜日に病院ではたらきます。

"Mizuki, who is a nurse, works at the hospital every Saturday."

 

こうむいんのたけしくんはれいたんな人です。

"Takeshi, who is a civil servant, is a cold person."

 

That concludes the entry on relative clauses. I hope after that exhaustive lesson at least some of you will understand this topic better.