Activities: How to form relative clauses and similar descriptive phrases in Japanese?

By: Kumiko Saeto

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These activities are part of our Japanese Grammar series. The skills we are practicing here are covered in our article:

Exercise 1: Combine the sentences!

Let’s put together two sentences and make them one sentence. One of them is going to be the modifying clause for a noun in the other sentence. Modify the first sentence so that the noun in blue will be modified by a clause and fits in the blank of the second sentence. Check the English translation to see if you are doing it right.

昨日アイスクリームを買いました。
Kinō aisukurīmu o kaimashita.
I bought ice cream yesterday.
友達が来たので、アイスクリームを出しました。
Tomodachi ga kita node, ... aisukurīmu o dashimashita.
A friend came, so I served the ice cream I bought yesterday.
去年沖縄で写真をとりました。
Kyonen Okinawa de shashin o torimashita.
I took a picture in Okinawa last year.
机の上に写真をかざりました。
Tsukue no ue ni ... shashin o kazarimashita.
I displayed the picture I took in Okinawa last year on the desk.
兄はクッキーを焼きました。
Ani wa kukkī o yakimashita.
My older brother baked cookies.
クッキーはいつもおいしいです。
... kukkī wa itsumo oishii desu.
The cookies my older brother baked are always delicious.
昨日の夜、雨が降っていました。
Kinō no yoru, ame ga futte imashita.
It was raining last night.
lit. Rain was pouring down last night.
雨は、今朝止みました。
... ame wa kesa yamimashita.
The rain that was pouring down last night stopped this morning.
In this question, you will need to remove the pronoun その[sono] before the noun 学生[gakusei] so that you can add the modifying clause.
その学生はこのクラスで一番背が高いです。
Sono gakusei wa kono kurasu de ichiban se ga takai desu.
That student is the tallest in this class.
学生は山口さんです。
... gakusei wa Yamaguchi san desu.
The student who is the tallest in this class is Ms. Yamaguchi.
This question uses external information! The first sentence will be the content of the noun in the second sentence.
夜空に星が輝いています。
Yozora ni hoshi ga kagayaite imasu.
Stars are shining in the night sky.
美術館で絵を見ました。
Bijutsukan de ... e o mimashita.
In a museum I saw a painting (in which) stars are shining in the night sky.
This question uses external information! The first sentence will be the content of the noun in the second sentence.
友達が宝くじに当たりました。
Tomodachi ga takarakuji ni atarimashita.
A friend of mine won the lottery.
うわさを聞きました。
... uwasa o kikimashita.
I heard the rumor that a friend of mine won the lottery.
👉 Did you remember to add という[toiu] to indicate that the modifying clause is quoting the content of the rumor?

Exercise 2: Describing your friends

Someone approaches you and says they are looking for a person who should be nearby. You know the person and want to tell them by describing what the person is doing or how the person looks. You can try creating several different descriptions about each person. Make sure the description grammatically fits in the blank to modify the noun 人[hito](person). We’ll provide you with some vocabulary below each picture so that you have ideas on how to describe them! Some verbs will need to be in the progressive form to describe the ongoing action.

Derek	Natalie	Elizabeth	John

サングラスをかける sangurasu o kakeru to wear sun glasses 紙コップを持つ kami koppu o motsu to hold a paper cup スーツを着る sūtsu o kiru to wear a formal suit	座る suwaru to sit 帽子をかぶる bōshi o kaburu to wear a hat 髪が白い kami ga shiroi hair is white	木の近くに立つ ki no chikaku ni tatsu to stand near a tree スカートをはく sukāto o haku to wear a skirt 髪が長い kami ga nagai hair is long	ひげがある hige ga aru to have a beard/mustache パソコンを使う pasokon o tsukau to use a PC 仕事をする shigoto o suru to work

OK, let's describe these people!

「デレックさんはどの人ですか。」
“Derekku san wa dono hito desu ka.”
“Which person is Derek?”
「デレックさんは人ですよ。」
“Derekku san wa ... hito desu yo.”
“Derek is the person (who) ...”
Possible answer 1:
「デレックさんはサングラスをかけている人ですよ。」[“Derekku san wa sangurasu o kakete iru hito desu yo.”](“Derek is the person (who) is wearing sun glasses.”)
Possible answer 2:
「デレックさんは紙コップを持っている人ですよ。」[“Derekku san wa kami koppu o mottte iru hito desu yo.”](“Derek is the person (who) is holding a paper cup.”)
Possible answer 3:
「デレックさんはスーツを着ている人ですよ。」[“Derekku san wa sūtsu o kite iru hito desu yo.”](“Derek is the person (who) is wearing a formal suit.”)
「ナタリーさんはどの人ですか。」
“Natarī san wa dono hito desu ka.”
“Which person is Natalie?”
「ナタリーさんは人ですよ。」
“Natarī san wa ... hito desu yo.”
“Natalie is the person (who) ...”
Possible answer 1:
「ナタリーさんはベンチに座っている人ですよ。」[“Natarī san wa benchi ni suwatte iru hito desu yo.”](“Natalie is the person (who) is sitting on a bench.”)
Possible answer 2:
「ナタリーさんは帽子をかぶっている人ですよ。」[“Natarī san wa bōshi o kabutte iru hito desu yo.”](“Natalie is the person (who) is wearing a hat.”)
Possible answer 3:
「ナタリーさんは髪が白い人ですよ。」[“Natarī san wa kami ga shiroi hito desu yo.”](“Natalie is the person (whose) hair is white.”)
「エリザベスさんはどの人ですか。」
“Erizabesu san wa dono hito desu ka.”
“Which person is Elizabeth?”
「エリザベスさんは人ですよ。」
“Erizabesu san wa ... hito desu yo.”
“Elizabeth is the person (who) ...”
Possible answer 1:
「エリザベスさんは木の近くに立っている人ですよ。」[“Erizabesu san wa ki no chikaku ni tatte iru hito desu yo.”](“Elizabeth is the person (who) is standing near a tree.”)
Possible answer 2:
「エリザベスさんはスカートをはいている人ですよ。」[“Erizabesu san wa sukāto o haite iru hito desu yo.”](“Elizabeth is the person (who) is wearing a skirt.”)
Possible answer 3:
「エリザベスさんは髪が長い人ですよ。」[“Erizabesu san wa kami ga nagai hito desu yo.”](“Elizabeth is the person (whose) hair is long.”)
「ジョンさんはどの人ですか。」
“Jon san wa dono hito desu ka.”
“Which person is John?”
「ジョンさんは人ですよ。」
“Jon san wa ... hito desu yo.”
“John is the person (who) ...”
Possible answer 1:
「ジョンさんはひげがある人ですよ。」[“Jon san wa hige ga aru hito desu yo.”](“John is the person (who) has a beard/mustache.”)
Possible answer 2:
「ジョンさんはパソコンを使っている人ですよ。」[“Jon san wa pasokon o tsukatte iru hito desu yo.”](“John is the person (who) is using a PC.”)
Possible answer 3:
「エリザベスさんは髪が長い人ですよ。」[“Jon san wa shigoto o shite iru hito desu yo.”](“John is the person (who) is working.”)

Exercise 3: Testify!

You happened to be at the crime scene of an incident, and the detective wants you to describe what happened at each location. Your goal is to tell the detective what you saw happening at each location in one sentence using noun modifiers! The nouns to be modified are colored in orange so you know which word will be the modified noun.

What you know:
犯人はこの公園を通りました。
Han’nin wa kono kōen o tōrimashita.
The suspect passed through this park.
You tell them:
ここはです。
Koko wa ... desu.
This place is the park the suspect passed through.
What you know:
犯人はこのトンネルで手袋を捨てました。
Han’nin wa kono ton’neru de tebukuro o sutemashita.
The suspect disposed of gloves in this tunnel.
You tell them:
ここはです。
Koko wa ... desu.
This place is the tunnel where the suspect disposed of gloves.
What you know:
犯人は最後にこの店に入りました。
Han’nin wa saigo ni kono mise ni hairimashita.
The suspect entered this store last.
You tell them:
ここはです。
Koko wa ... desu.
This place is the store the suspect entered last.
What you know:
犯人はトンネルでこの手袋を捨てました。
Han’nin wa ton’neru de kono tebukuro o sutemashita.
The suspect disposed of these gloves in the tunnel.
You tell them:
これはです。
Kore wa ... desu.
These are the gloves the suspect disposed of in the tunnel.
What you know:
犯人はこの帽子をかぶっていました。
Han’nin wa kono bōshi o kabutte imashita.
The suspect was wearing this hat.
You tell them:
これはです。
Kore wa ... desu.
This is the hat the suspect was wearing.
What you know:
犯人はこの像を盗みました。
Han’nin wa kono zō o nusumimashita.
The suspect stole this statue.
You tell them:
これはの写真です。
Kore wa ... no shashin desu.
This is a photo of the statue the suspect stole.

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