Grammar Info

N5 Lesson 6: 11/13

~た + (Noun)

Verb modified noun, Relative clause

Structure Legend

Structure

Verb[た](*) + Noun
Verb[ている](*) + Noun

(*) Only verbs in short (plain) form can modify nouns. Do not use polite-ます.

Details

  • Part of Speech

    Expression

  • Word Type

    Noun

  • Register

    Standard

  • 品詞

    表現

  • 単語の種類

    名詞

  • 使用域

    一般

About Verb[た・ている]+ Noun

In Japanese, if you want to describe something or someone that is performing an action, one of the ways you can do this is through a relative clause. A relative clause is when two phrases are joined into one sentence, rather than two individual sentences. The た (plain-past), or ている (continuous) form of verbs are usually used.
  • たかしさん東京(とうきょう)()(おとこ)
    Takashi-san is a man that lived in Tokyo.
  • 貴方(あなた)()ハンバーガー。
    The hamburger that you ate.
  • 田中(たなか)さん()でいるコーヒー。
    The coffee that Tanaka-san is drinking.
  • (みち)()ている(いぬ)
    A dog that is sleeping on the road.
る-Verbs and う-Verbs follow their regular conjugation rules when making a relative clause. In the first example, we can see that 'Takashi-san is a man that lives in Tokyo', is one sentence, rather than 'Takashi-san is a man. He lives in Tokyo'. In English, words like 'that', and 'which' are used to create a relative clause. However, seeing as though these words do not exist in Japanese, the first phrase is simply attached to the noun.
Caution
The ます (polite) forms of verbs may not be used when making a relative clause.
  • たかしさんは東京(とうきょう)()んでいました(おとこ)
    Takashi-san is a man who lived in tokyo. (Unnatural Japanese)

Examples

  • たくさん勉強(べんきょう)生徒(せいと)

    A student who studied a lot.

  • 日本(にほん)()んでいる外国(がいこく)(じん)

    A foreigner living in Japan.

  • 友達(ともだち)から()りたペン

    A pen borrowed from a friend.

  • (あら)った(ふく)

    Washed clothes.

  • (わたし)(つく)った椅子(いす)

    A chair I made.

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Verb[た・ている]+ Noun – Grammar Discussion

Most Recent Replies (22 in total)

  • pasi

    pasi

    About 8 months ago

    I got this sentence それは、あの店が売ったお弁当でしょ but ended up typing in 売ったことがある instead (which is wrong). Now, I started to wonder if that would’ve been acceptable. I actually asked ChatGPT about this but I’m not entirely sure if I can trust its answer:

    1. それは、あの店が売ったお弁当でしょう: This sentence means, “That must be the bento that the store sold.” It’s indicating that the specific bento you’re referring to was sold by that store.
    2. それは、あの店が売ったことがあるお弁当でしょう: This sentence translates to, “That must be the bento that the store has sold before.” By adding “ことがある”, you’re implying that the store has experience of selling that kind of bento in the past. It does not necessarily mean the specific bento you’re referring to was sold at that store.

    While the first sentence refers to a specific instance of sale, the second sentence refers to a recurring or past event, that the store has experience of selling that type of bento. So, while they are similar, the nuanced difference li...

  • bilowik

    bilowik

    About 2 months ago

    I’ve been struggling to differentiate between this grammar point and the の-verb nominalizer grammar point. For example, is there a nuanced difference between these two sentences?

    掃除をした人。
    掃除をしたの[は/が]人。

  • IcyIceBear

    IcyIceBear

    About 2 months ago

    1. The person that cleaned
    2. The one that cleaned is person

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