Relative Clauses (Advanced)

Vocabulary

彼【かれ】 – he, him
作る【つく・る】 (u-verb) – to make
ケーキ – cake
日本語【に・ほん・ご】 – Japanese language
勉強【べん・きょう】 – study
楽しい【たの・しい】 (i-adj) – fun, enjoyable
映画【えい・が】 – movie
友達【とも・だち】 – friend
勧める【すす・める】 (ru-verb) – to recommend
昨日【きのう】 – yesterday
読む【よ・む】 (u-verb) – to read
本【ほん】 – book

Relative clauses can act as the subject or object of a larger sentence, allowing for complex nested statements.

Replacing が with の

In a relative clause, the subject marker が can often be replaced with の to make it flow smoother.

彼が作ったケーキ - The cake he made
彼の作ったケーキ - The cake he made (slightly softer)
母の作った料理 - The food my mother made

Using the clause as a Noun

You can treat a whole phrase as a noun by adding の or こと at the end.

日本語を勉強するのは楽しい。 - Studying Japanese is fun.
本を読むのが好きだ。 - I like reading books.
早く起きることは大切だ。 - Waking up early is important.

Note: Literally “The thing of studying Japanese is fun.”

Nested Examples

私が昨日見た映画は、友達が勧めたものでした。 - The movie I saw yesterday was something my friend recommended.
彼が書いた本を読んでいる人がいる。 - There is someone reading the book he wrote.
昨日買った服を着ている。 - I'm wearing the clothes I bought yesterday.