Relative Clauses with 的 in Chinese

In Brief

A Chinese relative clause comes before the noun it describes and normally ends in 的: 我买的书 means “the book that I bought.” Chinese does not insert a word equivalent to English who, which, or that: use modifying clause + 的 + noun.

Overview

A relative clause is a group of words that identifies or describes a noun (a person, thing, place, or idea). In “the person who lives in Beijing,” the bold words tell us which person we mean. Chinese calls this kind of modifier a 定语, and a clause used this way is a 定语从句.

The central difference from English is direction. English normally names the noun first and explains it afterward. Chinese gives the description first, adds 的, and then names the noun: 住在北京的人, literally “lives in Beijing + 的 + person.” This same pattern works whether the noun is a person, an object, a place, a time, or an abstract idea.

This is a core B1 structure because it lets you combine short statements into richer ones. Once you can build it reliably, you can say “the food we ate yesterday,” “the teacher who taught me Chinese,” and “the reason she did not come” without learning separate relative pronouns.

How It Works

The basic frame

Position	Pattern	Function
1	modifying clause	Identifies or describes the noun
2	的	Marks the whole preceding clause as a modifier
3	noun	The person or thing being described

The general formula is:

[modifying clause] + 的 + [noun]

For example:

• 我买了一本书。 — I bought a book.
• 那本书很好看。 — That book is good/interesting.
• 我买的书很好看。 — The book I bought is good/interesting.

The shared noun 书 is not repeated inside the modifying clause. The clause 我买 contains a missing object: I bought “___.” The noun after 的 supplies the meaning of that gap.

When the noun is the object inside the clause

If the described noun receives the action, leave the object position empty inside the relative clause:

subject + verb (+ other information) + 的 + noun

• 我昨天看的电影 — the movie I watched yesterday
• 她做的菜 — the food she made
• 你要的东西 — the thing you want

Do not add a pronoun meaning “it” in the empty position. Chinese has no relative that or which here, and it does not repeat the object.

When the noun is the subject inside the clause

The described noun can instead be the person or thing performing the action. In that case, the relative clause begins directly with the verb or predicate:

verb phrase + 的 + noun

• 说中文的人 — a person/people who speak Chinese
• 住在楼上的邻居 — the neighbor who lives upstairs
• 昨天迟到的学生 — the student who was late yesterday

In 说中文的人, 人 is understood as the subject of 说中文: “the person [who] speaks Chinese.” There is still no Chinese word corresponding to who.

A noun linked by a preposition or another relationship

The gap can also be part of a relationship that English expresses with where, when, whose, or a preposition:

• 我们见面的地方 — the place where we met
• 他出生的那一年 — the year when he was born
• 我跟他一起工作的同事 — the colleague I work with
• 窗户坏了的房间 — the room whose window is broken / the room with the broken window

Chinese often expresses the intended relationship through context and the words already in the clause. There is no single Chinese relative pronoun that changes form for who, which, where, or whose.

Keep the whole clause before 的

Time, place, negation, modal verbs, complements, and aspect markers stay inside the modifying clause, before 的:

• 我昨天在书店买的书 — the book I bought at the bookstore yesterday
• 他没说完的话 — what he did not finish saying
• 你想去的城市 — the city you want to visit
• 我们已经看过的电影 — a movie we have already seen

Aspect markers such as 过 and 着 can occur normally inside a relative clause. 了 can also occur when its aspect meaning is needed, as in 我昨天买了以后就开始看的书 (“the book that I started reading after buying yesterday”), though many simple noun modifiers do not require 了. Choose aspect according to meaning; do not add or remove it merely because the clause is relative.

Demonstratives, numbers, and classifiers

A demonstrative such as 这 or 那, a number, and a classifier (a counting word such as 本 for books) usually remain with the noun phrase. The relative clause commonly comes before that unit:

• 我买的那本书 — that book I bought
• 昨天来的那三位客人 — those three guests who came yesterday
• 你推荐的这家餐厅 — this restaurant that you recommended

This order is especially useful when the listener already knows which set you mean. Compare 我买的书 (“the book/books I bought”) with 我买的那本书 (“that particular book I bought”).

More than one modifier

Several modifiers can describe the same noun:

• 我昨天买的那本新的中文书 — that new Chinese book I bought yesterday

Long clause-like information normally appears farther from the noun, while short descriptive words tend to sit closer to it. Natural modifier order can depend on meaning and emphasis, so do not treat every sequence as a rigid slot chart. For a learner, the safest method is to build the relative clause as one block, close it with 的, and then add the familiar noun phrase.

Using 的 without stating the noun

When the missing noun is obvious, Chinese can omit it and leave a 的 phrase standing on its own:

• 你要哪个？— 红色的。 — Which one do you want? — The red one.
• 这本不是我买的。 — This one is not the one I bought.
• 他说的是真的。 — What he said is true.

Here 的 does not itself mean “one,” “thing,” or “what.” It allows the preceding modifier to stand for an understood noun. Context tells the listener whether that noun is a person, object, statement, or something else.

Examples in Context

Chinese	English	Note
我买的书很好看。	The book I bought is good.	书 is the object of 买.
他说的话让我很意外。	What he said surprised me.	Literally “the words he said.”
住在北京的人不一定会说北京话。	People who live in Beijing do not necessarily speak the Beijing dialect.	人 is the subject of 住.
你要的东西已经到了。	The thing you want has arrived.	The head noun is 东西.
这是我昨天在网上找到的资料。	This is the material I found online yesterday.	Time and place stay inside the clause.
正在门口等你的那个人是谁？	Who is that person waiting for you at the entrance?	正在 marks an action in progress.
我们吃饭的那家小店关门了。	The little restaurant where we ate has closed.	家 is the classifier for a business.
她给我看的照片都是旅行时拍的。	The photos she showed me were all taken while traveling.	The final 拍的 has an understood noun.
你推荐的这家餐厅很受欢迎。	This restaurant that you recommended is very popular.	Relative clause before 这家餐厅.
我没听懂老师刚才说的那句话。	I did not understand the sentence the teacher just said.	A longer clause identifies 那句话.
喜欢安静环境的客人可以坐里面。	Guests who like a quiet environment can sit inside.	The described noun performs 喜欢.
他出生的那一年，这座桥刚建成。	The year he was born, this bridge had just been completed.	A time relationship translated with when.
窗户朝南的房间冬天比较暖和。	Rooms whose windows face south are warmer in winter.	A possession-like relationship is inferred.
我想买一个可以放进背包里的相机。	I want to buy a camera that can fit in a backpack.	里 belongs with 背包 inside the clause.

Common Mistakes

Putting the relative clause after the noun

• Wrong: 书我昨天买的
• Right: 我昨天买的书
• Why: An English speaker may begin with “the book” and then add the description. In standard Chinese noun phrases, the complete modifying clause must come before 的 + noun.

Adding a Chinese equivalent of “who” or “that”

• Wrong: 那个他住在北京的人
• Right: 那个住在北京的人
• Why: If 人 is the subject of 住, leave that subject position empty. Chinese does not need a relative pronoun between the noun and clause.

Repeating the object inside the clause

• Wrong: 我买它的书
• Right: 我买的书
• Why: 书 already represents the object of 买. Adding 它 changes or breaks the intended relationship rather than translating English that.

Forgetting 的 after a full clause

• Wrong: 我昨天买书很好看
• Right: 我昨天买的书很好看。
• Why: Without 的, the listener is likely to parse the words as separate actions or an incomplete sentence. A full subject–verb clause modifying a noun normally needs 的.

Moving details outside the relative clause

• Wrong: 我买的书昨天在书店 (intended: “the book I bought at the bookstore yesterday”)
• Right: 我昨天在书店买的书
• Why: 昨天在书店 describes the buying, so it belongs before 买 inside the modifying block. The wrong version instead sounds as though the book was at the bookstore yesterday.

Confusing 的, 地, and 得

• Wrong: 认真学习地学生
• Right: 认真学习的学生
• Why: 的 links a modifier to a noun. 地 typically links an adverbial expression to a following verb, while 得 introduces certain complements after a verb. A clause describing 学生 therefore ends in 的.

Usage Notes

Relative clauses with 的 are normal in both conversation and formal writing. Spoken Chinese often favors shorter blocks and may split a sentence if a modifier becomes difficult to follow. Written Chinese can comfortably carry more information before the noun, but clarity still matters: listeners cannot know the head noun until it arrives.

English distinguishes who, which, that, where, and when. Chinese usually leaves the relationship unstated when it is recoverable. As a result, one Chinese phrase can allow more than one English rendering. 他说的 may be “what he said,” “the thing he mentioned,” or “the one he talked about,” depending on context.

Do not overgeneralize the everyday omission of 的 in short combinations such as 我妈妈 (“my mother”) or fixed, close-knit expressions. Full relative clauses ordinarily retain 的: 昨天给我打电话的妈妈. Some compact modifier–noun combinations without 的 behave like established compounds or labels, not like a freely productive rule for relative clauses.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

Relative clauses can be ambiguous

Because Chinese uses a gap rather than an explicit relative pronoun, context may permit different grammatical relationships. 我认识的人 normally means “the person I know,” but a densely packed phrase can become unclear about who did what. Repeat a noun, add a preposition, or rewrite the sentence when clarity matters. Grammatical compactness is not always good style.

Nested relative clauses

One relative clause can appear inside another:

• 我朋友推荐的老师写的书 — the book written by the teacher my friend recommended

The structure is:

• 我朋友推荐的老师 — the teacher my friend recommended
• [我朋友推荐的老师]写的书 — the book that teacher wrote

Chinese builds both modifiers before the final noun, so nested clauses can place a heavy memory burden on the reader. In conversation, it is often clearer to introduce the teacher first and discuss the book in a second clause.

Restrictive and extra information

English punctuation often distinguishes information needed to identify a noun (“the students who arrived early”) from extra information (“my brother, who lives in Beijing”). Chinese does not make this distinction simply by choosing a different relative pronoun, and commas do not map neatly onto the English system. Word order, context, demonstratives, and sentence restructuring carry much of the difference. For extra comments about an already identified person, two clauses are frequently more natural than forcing everything into a long 的 phrase.

的 phrases as nominal expressions

An omitted head noun can produce very flexible expressions:

• 喜欢甜的 — someone who likes sweet things / one who likes sweet flavors
• 最重要的是安全。 — The most important thing is safety.
• 该说的我都说了。 — I have said everything that needed to be said.

These are sometimes called nominalized expressions: a modifier functions like a noun phrase. The label is less important than recognizing that the listener supplies the missing category from context.

Passive and disposal constructions inside modifiers

More advanced sentence patterns can sit inside a relative clause as a complete block:

• 被大家忽略的问题 — the problem that everyone overlooked
• 我把名字写错的那份表格 — the form on which I wrote the name incorrectly

The outer rule does not change: finish the internal clause, add 的, then state the noun. This makes relative clauses a framework into which much of the grammar you learn later can fit.

Practice Tips

1. Combine pairs of sentences. Start with 我看了一部电影。电影很有意思。 Remove the repeated noun and produce 我看的电影很有意思。 Then repeat with people, places, and objects.
2. Work backward from the noun. Circle the final noun, find the 的 immediately before it, and treat everything before 的 as one descriptive block. This is especially effective when reading long sentences.
3. Practice both gap types. Alternate “the person who does X” (做X的人) with “the thing that someone does X to” (某人做X的东西). This prevents you from assuming every relative clause has the same internal role.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: 的 for Possession — introduces 的 as the link between a modifier and a noun.