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  • CLASSROOM LANGUAGE
    • REI - STARTING THE LESSON
    • THINGS STUDENTS SAY
    • THINGS TEACHERS SAY
    • CLASSROOM OBJECTS
    • KIMOCHI - FEELINGS
  • YEAR 9
    • HAJIMEMASHITE - FIRST MEETINGS
    • AISATSU - GREETINGS
    • GREETINGS ANIME
    • NAMAE - NAMES
    • BANGOU - NUMBERS
    • NAN SAI? - HOW OLD ARE YOU?
    • WHERE WE LIVE
    • SPORTS AND PASTIMES
    • JIKO SHOUKAI - SELF INTRODUCTION
    • KAZOKU - FAMILY
    • LIKES AND DISLIKES
    • YURU KYARA - CHARACTER MASCOTS
    • PARTS OF THE BODY - FACES
    • THE BODY - KARADA
    • NANI IRO - WHAT COLOUR?
    • WHAT'S IT LIKE - DESCRIBING WORDS
    • TENKI - WEATHER
    • KAMOKU - SUBJECTS
    • GAKKOU - SCHOOL
    • HIRAGANA
    • YEAR 9 STUDENTS
  • YEAR 10
    • KUNI - COUNTRIES
    • KAZOKU - FAMILY >
      • FAMILY VOCABULARY
      • INTRODUCING FAMILY
      • NAN NIN? - HOW MANY PEOPLE?
      • DARE GA IMASU KA -WHO IS THERE?
      • DESCRIBING APPEARANCE
      • SHUMI - HOBBIES
      • SHIGOTO - JOBS
    • TABEMONO - FOOD >
      • ORDERING IN A FAST FOOD RESTAURANT
    • HOUSING >
      • AROUND HOME - VOCABULARY
      • WHAT'S IT LIKE? - DOU DESU KA?
      • ARIMASU-THERE IS/THERE ARE
      • HITOTSU ARIMASU-THERE IS ONE
      • IN/ON/UNDER - PREPOSITIONS
      • SAYING WHAT THERE IS AND WHERE
      • ASKING AND SAYING WHERE SOMETHING IS
      • KORE/SORE/ARE - THIS/THAT
    • SEIKATSU - DAILY LIFE >
      • VERBS - INTRODUCTION
      • VERBS - DAILY ACTIVITIES
      • HOW OFTEN?
      • TOMORROW - FUTURE TIME WORDS
      • PAST ACTIVITIES
      • YESTERDAY - PAST TIME WORDS
      • JIKAN - TIME
      • YOUBI - DAYS OF THE WEEK
    • YEAR 10 GAKKOU >
      • KAMOKU - SUBJECTS
      • SUBJECT LIKES/DISLIKES
      • SCHOOL VOCABULARY
    • NANI IRO - WHAT COLOUR?
    • DOUBUTSU - ANIMALS >
      • STORIES AND SONGS >
        • Zou no hana - The Elephant's Nose
        • Kobutanukitsuneko
    • YEAR 10 KANJI
    • LISTENING PRACTICE
  • YEAR 11
    • Y11 LANGUAGE NOTES >
      • THINGS AROUND TOWN
      • NANI GA ARU? - WHAT IS THERE?
      • MAE / YOKO / USHIRO - Locations
      • ADJECTIVES - REVIEW
      • DESCRIBING APPEARANCES
      • CHIISAKUTE, FURUI - Small and old - Joining adjectives
      • EKI GA ATTE, BENRI DESU - Forming compound sentences
      • IROIRONA MACHI - Descriptions of various towns
      • TARI-TARI - Do things like...
      • KARA - from, so, after >
        • KARA = FROM
        • KARA = THEREFORE/SO
        • KARA = AFTER
      • DOU YATTE IKU? - Giving Directions
      • NANI GA DEKIMASU KA - WHAT CAN WE DO THERE?
      • ASOBI NI KITE - COME AND VISIT
      • MACHI ONLINE READING LINKS
      • COUNTERS
      • NANI IRO - WHAT COLOUR?
      • AKAI NO GA HOSHII - I WANT THE RED ONE
      • IKURA - HOW MUCH?
      • SORE WO KUDASAI - THAT ONE PLEASE
      • NANI GA II - WHAT WOULD BE GOOD?
      • NI SHIMASU - EXPRESSING A DECISION
      • SHUMI - HOBBIES
      • GIVING & RECEIVING - AGERU KURERU MORAU
      • TABETAI - WANT TO EAT
      • DESCRIBING PEOPLE
      • MOU, MADA - ALREADY, NOT YET
      • SUGIMASU - Too much
      • NAGARA - While doing
      • TE MO II - PERMISSION
      • NARIMASU -BECOME
      • KOTO GA DEKIRU - CAN DO
      • CONNECTIVES - Joining words
      • SEQUENCE MARKERS AVERBS OF TIME
    • WATASHI-TACHI NO MACHI - OUR TOWN
    • KAIMONO - SHOPPING 1
    • KURISUMASU - CHRISTMAS
    • OTHER LANGUAGE NOTES
    • PRESENTATIONS - Oral language features
    • NCEA LEVEL 1 KANJI
    • FUNNY JAPANESE COMMERCIALS
    • INTERACTION PRACTICE
  • YEAR 12
    • YEAR12 LANGUAGE NOTES >
      • -NO HOU GA - COMPARISONS/ MORE - THAN
      • ICHIBAN - COMPARISONS/THE MOST
      • HODO NAI - COMPARISONS/ NOT AS
      • ONAJI GURAI - COMPARISONS/ SAME AS
      • DOUSHI - VERBS
      • KOTO NI SURU - DECIDE TO DO
      • SURU MAE NI - BEFORE WE DO
      • -TA ATODE - AFTER WE'VE DONE
      • CHIISAI TOKI - WHEN I WAS LITTLE
      • VERB AIDA - WHILE VERBING
      • -TE MIRU - TRY SOMETHING AND SEE
      • KISETSU - SEASONS
      • USING と FOR IF/WHEN
      • NO - NOMINALISING ADJECTIVES
      • TENKI - WEATHER
      • AME GA FUTTE IMASU - IT'S RAINING
      • NO/KOTO - NOMINALISERS 2
      • RELATIVE CLAUSES
      • TE FORM + IKU/KURU
      • REPORTED SPEECH-SOU DESU
      • DOU YATTE - HOW TO
      • YARIKATA - HOW TO
      • KOTO GA ARIMASU KA - HAVE YOU EVER...
      • TABETE SHIMAIMASHITA - ENDED UP EATING
      • NANI KA/DARE KA - SOMETHING/ SOMEBODY
      • NANI MO/DARE MO - SOMETHING/ NOTHING
      • BEGIN DOING - SHIHAJIMERU
      • SHIKA NAI - NOTHING BUT
    • NCEA LEVEL 2 KANJI
    • ONLINE READING LINKS
    • HOMESTAY UNIT VOCABULARY
  • YEAR 13
    • YEAR13 LANGUAGE NOTES >
      • TO OMOU - I THINK
      • ~SOU - LOOKS ~
      • TAME NI - IN ORDER TO/FOR THE SAKE OF
      • NODE - EXPLAINING CONSEQUENCES
      • ~SHI - EMPHASISING SUPPORTING INFORMATION
      • TARA - IF
      • ~NARA - IF
      • ~TARA II - SHOULD
      • ~SHITA HOU GA II - OUGHT TO
      • ~SHINAI HOU GA II - OUGHT NOT TO
      • ~KOTO NI NARU - IT HAS BEEN DECIDED THAT~
      • ~NAKEREBA NARANAI - I HAVE TO
      • ~NAKEREBA IKENAI - YOU HAVE TO
      • ~NAKUTE MO II - YOU DON'T HAVE TO
      • ~RARERU - THE POTENTIAL FORM
      • ~TE HOSHII - WANT SOMEONE TO DO
      • ~TE MORAU - GET SOMEONE TO DO
      • ~TE KURERU - SOMEONE DOES SOMETHING FOR US
      • ~KA DOU KA - EXPRESSING UNCERTAINTY
      • TSUMORI - INTEND
      • ~ TSUMORI WA NAI - HAVE NO INTENTION OF ~
      • ~HAZU DA - EXPECTATION/SHOULD BE
      • ~TRANSITIVE/INTRANSITIVE VERBS
      • SUPPORT/CHALLENGE IDEAS
    • NCEA LEVEL 3 KANJI
  • VERBS
    • ICHI(1)-DAN VERBS
    • GO(5)-DAN VERBS >
      • う-VERBS
      • く-VERBS
      • ぐ-VERBS
      • す-VERBS
      • つ-VERBS
      • ぬ-VERBS
      • ぶ-VERBS
      • む-VERBS
      • る-VERBS
    • IRREGULAR VERBS
    • VERB TENSES - HOW TO USE THEM
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OTOKO NO HITO GA BIKKURI SHITA NYUUSU - THE NEWS THAT SURPRISED THE MAN

Relative Clauses
Giving more information
about the noun

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NEKO GA SUNDE IRU KAFE - THE CAFE WHERE CATS LIVE

RELATIVE CLAUSES ALLOW US TO GIVE MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE NOUN IN THE SENTENCE. 

Although we could say . . .
  • ‘I bought a book. The book is interesting’, or ‘The hotel was convenient. We stayed in the hotel.’,
. . . these sentences feel a bit like the kind of sentences we wrote in primary school. What we really want to be able to say is . . .
  • ‘The book that I bought is interesting’, and ‘The hotel that we stayed in was convenient’.
Expressing ideas like ‘the book that I bought’ or ‘the hotel that we stayed in’ is very simple in Japanese, you just have to follow a few steps. What can you figure out from the video above the examples below? For a complete explanation, watch the video at the bottom of the page.


Examples:

Sentence with relative clause:
​

​大学生は、大学でべんきょうする学生です。
  • A university student is a student who studies at university.
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The two ideas shown separately.
大学生は、学生です。
  • A university student is a student. (An obvious sentence, but a simple way to illustrate the grammar!)
大学でべんきょうします。
  • He/She studies at university.

Sentence with relative clause:
​

​ふじさんは、日本にあるやまです。
  • Mt Fuji is a mountain (that is) in Japan.
Picture
The two ideas shown separately.
​ふじさんは、やまです。
  • Mt Fuji is a mountain.
日本にあります。
  • It's in Japan.

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Sentence with relative clause:
​

​ゆかたは、なつにきるきものです。
  • A yukata is a kimono that you wear in summer.
The two ideas shown separately.
​ゆかたは、きものです。
  • A yukata is a kimono.
なつにきます。
  • You wear it in summer.

Sentence with relative clause:
​

​私たちがとまったホテルは、べんりでした。
  • The hotel we stayed in was convenient.
Picture
The two ideas shown separately.
​ホテルは べんりでした。
  • The hotel was convenient
私たちが とまりました。
  • We stayed (there)

Sentence with relative clause:
​私は、ともだちがつくったケーキをたべました。
  • I ate the cake that my friend made.
Picture
The two ideas shown separately.
​私は、ケーキを たべました。 
  • I ate the cake
友だちが つくりました。
  • My friend made (it)
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PRACTICE USING RELATIVE CLAUSES ON QUIZLET

Examples of relative clauses:
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みちにまよった人
  • a person who lost their way
私が小さいときにみちにまよったとき
  • the time I got lost when I was little
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ちちが買ったくるま
  • the car my father bought
友だちが買ってくれたケーキ
  • the cake my friend bought for me.
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いつかとまってみたいホテル
  • a hotel I'd like to try staying at sometime
私がいちばん楽しいと思うゲーム
  • the game I think is the most fun
Picture
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私がすごくおもしろいと思った日本りょうり
  • a Japanese dish I thought was really interesting
友だちといっしょに見たホラーえいが
  • a horror movie I watched with a friend
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WATCH THE THREE VIDEOS ON THE EASY JAPANESE GRAMMAR WEBSITE TO GET A DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF RELATIVE CLAUSES:
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  • Home
  • CLASSROOM LANGUAGE
    • REI - STARTING THE LESSON
    • THINGS STUDENTS SAY
    • THINGS TEACHERS SAY
    • CLASSROOM OBJECTS
    • KIMOCHI - FEELINGS
  • YEAR 9
    • HAJIMEMASHITE - FIRST MEETINGS
    • AISATSU - GREETINGS
    • GREETINGS ANIME
    • NAMAE - NAMES
    • BANGOU - NUMBERS
    • NAN SAI? - HOW OLD ARE YOU?
    • WHERE WE LIVE
    • SPORTS AND PASTIMES
    • JIKO SHOUKAI - SELF INTRODUCTION
    • KAZOKU - FAMILY
    • LIKES AND DISLIKES
    • YURU KYARA - CHARACTER MASCOTS
    • PARTS OF THE BODY - FACES
    • THE BODY - KARADA
    • NANI IRO - WHAT COLOUR?
    • WHAT'S IT LIKE - DESCRIBING WORDS
    • TENKI - WEATHER
    • KAMOKU - SUBJECTS
    • GAKKOU - SCHOOL
    • HIRAGANA
    • YEAR 9 STUDENTS
  • YEAR 10
    • KUNI - COUNTRIES
    • KAZOKU - FAMILY >
      • FAMILY VOCABULARY
      • INTRODUCING FAMILY
      • NAN NIN? - HOW MANY PEOPLE?
      • DARE GA IMASU KA -WHO IS THERE?
      • DESCRIBING APPEARANCE
      • SHUMI - HOBBIES
      • SHIGOTO - JOBS
    • TABEMONO - FOOD >
      • ORDERING IN A FAST FOOD RESTAURANT
    • HOUSING >
      • AROUND HOME - VOCABULARY
      • WHAT'S IT LIKE? - DOU DESU KA?
      • ARIMASU-THERE IS/THERE ARE
      • HITOTSU ARIMASU-THERE IS ONE
      • IN/ON/UNDER - PREPOSITIONS
      • SAYING WHAT THERE IS AND WHERE
      • ASKING AND SAYING WHERE SOMETHING IS
      • KORE/SORE/ARE - THIS/THAT
    • SEIKATSU - DAILY LIFE >
      • VERBS - INTRODUCTION
      • VERBS - DAILY ACTIVITIES
      • HOW OFTEN?
      • TOMORROW - FUTURE TIME WORDS
      • PAST ACTIVITIES
      • YESTERDAY - PAST TIME WORDS
      • JIKAN - TIME
      • YOUBI - DAYS OF THE WEEK
    • YEAR 10 GAKKOU >
      • KAMOKU - SUBJECTS
      • SUBJECT LIKES/DISLIKES
      • SCHOOL VOCABULARY
    • NANI IRO - WHAT COLOUR?
    • DOUBUTSU - ANIMALS >
      • STORIES AND SONGS >
        • Zou no hana - The Elephant's Nose
        • Kobutanukitsuneko
    • YEAR 10 KANJI
    • LISTENING PRACTICE
  • YEAR 11
    • Y11 LANGUAGE NOTES >
      • THINGS AROUND TOWN
      • NANI GA ARU? - WHAT IS THERE?
      • MAE / YOKO / USHIRO - Locations
      • ADJECTIVES - REVIEW
      • DESCRIBING APPEARANCES
      • CHIISAKUTE, FURUI - Small and old - Joining adjectives
      • EKI GA ATTE, BENRI DESU - Forming compound sentences
      • IROIRONA MACHI - Descriptions of various towns
      • TARI-TARI - Do things like...
      • KARA - from, so, after >
        • KARA = FROM
        • KARA = THEREFORE/SO
        • KARA = AFTER
      • DOU YATTE IKU? - Giving Directions
      • NANI GA DEKIMASU KA - WHAT CAN WE DO THERE?
      • ASOBI NI KITE - COME AND VISIT
      • MACHI ONLINE READING LINKS
      • COUNTERS
      • NANI IRO - WHAT COLOUR?
      • AKAI NO GA HOSHII - I WANT THE RED ONE
      • IKURA - HOW MUCH?
      • SORE WO KUDASAI - THAT ONE PLEASE
      • NANI GA II - WHAT WOULD BE GOOD?
      • NI SHIMASU - EXPRESSING A DECISION
      • SHUMI - HOBBIES
      • GIVING & RECEIVING - AGERU KURERU MORAU
      • TABETAI - WANT TO EAT
      • DESCRIBING PEOPLE
      • MOU, MADA - ALREADY, NOT YET
      • SUGIMASU - Too much
      • NAGARA - While doing
      • TE MO II - PERMISSION
      • NARIMASU -BECOME
      • KOTO GA DEKIRU - CAN DO
      • CONNECTIVES - Joining words
      • SEQUENCE MARKERS AVERBS OF TIME
    • WATASHI-TACHI NO MACHI - OUR TOWN
    • KAIMONO - SHOPPING 1
    • KURISUMASU - CHRISTMAS
    • OTHER LANGUAGE NOTES
    • PRESENTATIONS - Oral language features
    • NCEA LEVEL 1 KANJI
    • FUNNY JAPANESE COMMERCIALS
    • INTERACTION PRACTICE
  • YEAR 12
    • YEAR12 LANGUAGE NOTES >
      • -NO HOU GA - COMPARISONS/ MORE - THAN
      • ICHIBAN - COMPARISONS/THE MOST
      • HODO NAI - COMPARISONS/ NOT AS
      • ONAJI GURAI - COMPARISONS/ SAME AS
      • DOUSHI - VERBS
      • KOTO NI SURU - DECIDE TO DO
      • SURU MAE NI - BEFORE WE DO
      • -TA ATODE - AFTER WE'VE DONE
      • CHIISAI TOKI - WHEN I WAS LITTLE
      • VERB AIDA - WHILE VERBING
      • -TE MIRU - TRY SOMETHING AND SEE
      • KISETSU - SEASONS
      • USING と FOR IF/WHEN
      • NO - NOMINALISING ADJECTIVES
      • TENKI - WEATHER
      • AME GA FUTTE IMASU - IT'S RAINING
      • NO/KOTO - NOMINALISERS 2
      • RELATIVE CLAUSES
      • TE FORM + IKU/KURU
      • REPORTED SPEECH-SOU DESU
      • DOU YATTE - HOW TO
      • YARIKATA - HOW TO
      • KOTO GA ARIMASU KA - HAVE YOU EVER...
      • TABETE SHIMAIMASHITA - ENDED UP EATING
      • NANI KA/DARE KA - SOMETHING/ SOMEBODY
      • NANI MO/DARE MO - SOMETHING/ NOTHING
      • BEGIN DOING - SHIHAJIMERU
      • SHIKA NAI - NOTHING BUT
    • NCEA LEVEL 2 KANJI
    • ONLINE READING LINKS
    • HOMESTAY UNIT VOCABULARY
  • YEAR 13
    • YEAR13 LANGUAGE NOTES >
      • TO OMOU - I THINK
      • ~SOU - LOOKS ~
      • TAME NI - IN ORDER TO/FOR THE SAKE OF
      • NODE - EXPLAINING CONSEQUENCES
      • ~SHI - EMPHASISING SUPPORTING INFORMATION
      • TARA - IF
      • ~NARA - IF
      • ~TARA II - SHOULD
      • ~SHITA HOU GA II - OUGHT TO
      • ~SHINAI HOU GA II - OUGHT NOT TO
      • ~KOTO NI NARU - IT HAS BEEN DECIDED THAT~
      • ~NAKEREBA NARANAI - I HAVE TO
      • ~NAKEREBA IKENAI - YOU HAVE TO
      • ~NAKUTE MO II - YOU DON'T HAVE TO
      • ~RARERU - THE POTENTIAL FORM
      • ~TE HOSHII - WANT SOMEONE TO DO
      • ~TE MORAU - GET SOMEONE TO DO
      • ~TE KURERU - SOMEONE DOES SOMETHING FOR US
      • ~KA DOU KA - EXPRESSING UNCERTAINTY
      • TSUMORI - INTEND
      • ~ TSUMORI WA NAI - HAVE NO INTENTION OF ~
      • ~HAZU DA - EXPECTATION/SHOULD BE
      • ~TRANSITIVE/INTRANSITIVE VERBS
      • SUPPORT/CHALLENGE IDEAS
    • NCEA LEVEL 3 KANJI
  • VERBS
    • ICHI(1)-DAN VERBS
    • GO(5)-DAN VERBS >
      • う-VERBS
      • く-VERBS
      • ぐ-VERBS
      • す-VERBS
      • つ-VERBS
      • ぬ-VERBS
      • ぶ-VERBS
      • む-VERBS
      • る-VERBS
    • IRREGULAR VERBS
    • VERB TENSES - HOW TO USE THEM