Lesson 36
Base 3 + (any noun)
In English we have what are officially called relative pronouns: words that connect a noun to an action. For a quick review, they are like which in "This is the dictionary which I'll buy for my brother's birthday present," where in "Kobe is where she will take the exam," and who in "There's the man who I saw in the station yesterday."
In Japanese, there are no "relative pronouns." (This is why teaching about these pesky words and the grammar related to them is so difficult in Japan. And, to make matters worse, the way English grammar books used in the schools here are written gives the impression that mastering all aspects and usages of relative pronouns is the most important thing one needs to learn about English. But, that's another story...) All you do is simply add the noun in question to the plain form of the verb in question. Let's look at these simple phrases:
- watashi ga noru densha (the train I'll take)
- kare ga iku tokoro (the place he'll go)
- kanojo no deru jikan (the time she'll leave)
- watashitachi ga au kyaku (the customer we'll meet)
Now, as I sit here and look at these four phrases, which are examples involving a thing, a place, a time, and a person, respectively, I can see several things which need to be explained — things I'd like to explain, but can't without going off on a tangent which would require a completely new and lengthy page. For example, a new learner may well ask: why ga after the subjects above, instead of the usual wa? Why no after kanojo instead of ga? Well, to offer very general, but hopefully sufficient for the present, explanations, we'll go off on just a tiny tangent here:
Wa indicates the main subject or topic of the whole sentence, and is handled by the final verb. For example, the entire phrase watashi ga noru densha above could be the subject in Watashi ga noru densha wa hachi ji ni demasu. (My train leaves at eight o'clock.) In this sentence, densha (train) is the main subject, and deru (to leave) tells us what it will do; watashi ga noru just gives us more information about the train — watashi ga noru densha simply pinning it down as the "train I will take" or "my train."
Ga indicates a subject within a phrase, a "sub-subject," you might say, or a noun which needs emphasis. Continuing with the above example, ga tells us who will take the train.
No is often used in place of ga, especially in informal spoken Japanese, which is why I decided to leave it as it is in the example above. Ga or no could be used here, so I feel that the learner may as well get used to both, since he or she will surely be hearing both. Please remember that no also has another job as the indicator for possessives, like our ['s], as in Sore wa Kimiko no kasa desu. (That is Kimiko's umbrella.) 1
Now, to get back to the lesson, let's translate one of the examples used at the beginning of the lesson:
- Kore wa watashi no otouto no tanjoubi purezento ni kau jisho desu. (This is the dictionary I'll buy for my little brother's birthday present.)
Since this is natural Japanese, the watashi (I) telling who will buy the dictionary is obviously understood as the speaker, and therefore omitted. The watashi in the sentence is actually a part of the possessive pronoun watashi no (my). If you can keep these things straight now it will really be a big help later.
Now let's do another example:
- Kobe wa kanojo ga shiken o ukeru tokoro desu. (Kobe is where she'll take the exam.)
In this one, the English "where," as a relative pronoun, automatically designates a place, but since Japanese has no equivalent, a substitute noun must be used. Kobe is a place, so tokoro is used after the verb. As you may have noticed, a truer English translation would be, "Kobe is the place where she'll take the exam," but "the place" is redundant and unnecessary in English, and so it would most likely be omitted. Tokoro and where are roughly equivalent here in only a grammatical sense; they do not mean the same thing.
As you can see, both English and Japanese have their own set of rules concerning what and when something unnecessary can be omitted. The problem is that the rules are totally different for each language. As a general, semi-accurate rule, English and Japanese are on opposite ends from each other on the "language spectrum"; what applies to one doesn't necessarily apply to the other, and vice versa; and when trying to make sense of one, you must forget all the rules of the other.
Finally, here is one last example:
- Haru wa atarashii inochi o motarasu kisetsu desu. (Spring is the season that brings new life.)
This one is pretty straightforward, and should not be too difficult.
I hope this lesson was clear enough. These "relative pronoun substitution" sentences can be difficult, and are in the realm of mid- to high-intermediate Japanese. Please come back regularly to review as necessary. Practice makes perfect!
Word Check
tokoro: a place
deru: to leave, depart
jikan: time
au: to meet
kyaku: customer, guest
otouto: younger brother
tanjoubi: birthday
purezento: a present 2
shiken: examination
ukeru: to receive; to take a test
haru: (the season of) spring
atarashii: new
inochi: life
motarasu: to bring about, produce; to cause to happen
kisetsu: season
(Verbs are shown in their plain form.)
Notes
1. For more see Japanese Particles
2. Purezento is yet another example of wasei eigo: words borrowed from English.
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