Relative Clauses in Japanese

Overview

Relative clauses in Japanese let you modify a noun with a full clause, just as English uses "who," "which," or "that." The remarkable thing about Japanese relative clauses is their simplicity: there is no relative pronoun at all. You simply place a clause in plain form directly before the noun it modifies, and the connection is understood from context.

This is an A2 concept that significantly expands what you can express. Instead of saying "I bought a book. The book is interesting," you can say "The book I bought is interesting" in a single, natural sentence. Japanese relative clauses are one of the structures where the language is genuinely easier than English once you grasp the pattern.

How It Works

Basic pattern

[Plain form clause] + Noun

The clause uses plain form (not ます/です), and it goes directly before the noun it describes.

English (relative pronoun needed)	Japanese (no pronoun)
the person who came yesterday	昨日来た人
the book that I bought	私が買った本
the shop which is near the station	駅の近くにある店

Rules

1. The modifying clause always comes before the noun.
2. Use plain form in the clause (even in polite sentences).
3. No relative pronoun (who, which, that) is needed or used.
4. The modified noun can play any grammatical role in the relative clause (subject, object, location, etc.).

Different tenses in relative clauses

Tense	Example	Meaning
Present	日本語を話す人	a person who speaks Japanese
Past	昨日会った人	the person I met yesterday
Negative	肉を食べない人	a person who doesn't eat meat
Past negative	来なかった人	the person who didn't come

The modified noun's role in the clause

Role	Example	Literal analysis
Subject	[_ が来た]人 → 来た人	the person who came
Object	[私が _ を買った]本 → 私が買った本	the book I bought
Location	[_ に住んでいる]町 → 住んでいる町	the town where I live
Time	[_ に生まれた]年 → 生まれた年	the year I was born

Examples in Context

Japanese	English	Note
昨日会った人	the person I met yesterday	Past tense, person = object
私が作った料理	the dish I made	私が clarifies the subject
日本語を話す人	a person who speaks Japanese	Present tense
駅の近くにある店	the shop near the station	Location clause
昨日買った本はおもしろいです。	The book I bought yesterday is interesting.	Full sentence, polite
母が作ったケーキを食べました。	I ate the cake my mother made.	Embedded in larger sentence
日本に住んでいる友達がいます。	I have a friend who lives in Japan.	ている in relative clause
いつも行くレストランは安いです。	The restaurant I always go to is cheap.	Habitual present
英語が話せる人を探しています。	I'm looking for someone who can speak English.	Potential form in clause
去年見た映画で一番好きなのは何ですか？	What's your favorite movie you saw last year?	Complex sentence

Common Mistakes

Putting the clause after the noun (English order)

• Wrong: 人が昨日来た (when trying to say "the person who came yesterday")
• Right: 昨日来た人
• Why: In Japanese, the modifying clause always precedes the noun. This is the opposite of English word order.

Using です/ます inside the relative clause

• Wrong: 昨日買いました本
• Right: 昨日買った本
• Why: Relative clauses require plain form, even when the overall sentence is polite.

Adding a relative pronoun

• Wrong: 私がそれを買った本 (adding "it" as a placeholder)
• Right: 私が買った本
• Why: Japanese does not use relative pronouns. The gap (missing noun slot) in the clause is understood from context.

Forgetting が for the subject inside the clause

• Wrong: 母は作ったケーキ (は marks the topic of the whole sentence, not the clause)
• Right: 母が作ったケーキ
• Why: Inside relative clauses, the subject is marked with が, not は. は is a topic marker for the main sentence.

Usage Notes

Relative clauses can be stacked or nested, though this gets complex quickly. In everyday speech, one relative clause per noun is typical. In writing or formal contexts, longer chains appear: 昨日駅の前で会った友達が作った料理 (the food made by the friend I met in front of the station yesterday).

When the subject of the relative clause is the same as the main sentence's subject, it is usually omitted: [_ が] 昨日買った本 → 昨日買った本.

Practice Tips

• Take simple descriptions and convert them into relative clauses: "I have a friend. The friend is from Japan." → 日本から来た友達がいます.
• Practice identifying the gap: in the clause 昨日食べたラーメン, what role does ラーメン play? (Answer: the object of 食べた.)
• When reading Japanese, look for plain-form verbs immediately before nouns. That is your signal that a relative clause is at work.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Plain/Dictionary Form — plain form is required inside relative clauses