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Relative Clauses (関係詞節) - 完全ガイド

Overview

関係詞節 = 名詞を修飾する節。日本語と語順が逆になるのが最大の難点。

Relative Pronoun 先行詞 役割
who 人 主語/目的語
whom 人 目的語(フォーマル)
which もの/動物 主語/目的語
that 人/もの 主語/目的語
whose 人/もの 所有
where 場所 場所の副詞
when 時 時の副詞
why 理由 理由の副詞

Defining Relative Clauses (制限用法) — コンマなし

先行詞を特定するために必要な情報。なくすと意味が変わる。

who — 人（主語）

  1. The woman who lives next door is a doctor. (隣に住んでいる女性は医者だ)
  2. People who exercise regularly are healthier. (定期的に運動する人は健康だ)
  3. The man who called you is my boss. (あなたに電話した男性は私の上司だ)
  4. Anyone who wants to come is welcome. (来たい人は誰でも歓迎)
  5. Students who study hard get good grades. (一生懸命勉強する学生は良い成績を取る)

who/whom — 人（目的語）

  1. The girl (who/whom) I met yesterday is really nice. (昨日会った女の子はとても素敵だ)
  2. The teacher (who/whom) everyone loves is retiring. (みんなに愛されている先生が退職する)
  3. The person (who) you need to talk to is Mr. Tanaka. (話すべき人は田中さんだ)

which — もの（主語/目的語）

  1. The book which is on the table is mine. (テーブルの上の本は私のだ)
  2. The movie (which) we saw last night was boring. (昨夜見た映画はつまらなかった)
  3. The car which broke down was brand new. (故障した車は新品だった)
  4. The food (which) she cooked was delicious. (彼女が作った料理はおいしかった)

that — 人/もの両方OK（制限用法のみ！）

  1. The woman that lives next door = The woman who lives next door
  2. The book that I bought = The book which I bought
  3. Is this the bus that goes to Shibuya? (これは渋谷行きのバスですか?)

忘れがちなポイント: 目的格の関係代名詞は省略できる!

Non-Defining Relative Clauses (非制限用法) — コンマあり

追加情報を加える。なくても文の意味は変わらない。

ルール

Examples

  1. My mother, who is 65, still works full-time. (母は65歳で、まだフルタイムで働いている)
  2. Tokyo, which is the capital of Japan, has a population of 14 million. (東京は日本の首都で、人口は1400万人だ)
  3. Mr. Tanaka, who taught me math, has retired. (田中先生は数学を教えてくれたが、退職した)
  4. My car, which I bought last year, already has problems. (去年買った車にもう問題がある)
  5. The Nile, which flows through Egypt, is the longest river in Africa. (ナイル川はエジプトを流れ、アフリカ最長の川だ)
  6. Einstein, who was born in Germany, developed the theory of relativity. (アインシュタインはドイツ生まれで、相対性理論を発展させた)
  7. My sister, whose husband is American, lives in New York. (姉は夫がアメリカ人で、ニューヨークに住んでいる)
  8. July, when most schools are on break, is the hottest month. (7月は多くの学校が休みで、最も暑い月だ)

Defining vs Non-Defining の違い — 超重要!

意味が変わる例: - My brother who lives in London is a banker. → ロンドンに住んでいる兄は銀行員だ。(兄が複数いて、ロンドンの兄を特定) - My brother, who lives in London, is a banker. → 兄はロンドンに住んでいて、銀行員だ。(兄は一人、追加情報)

whose — 所有の関係代名詞

Examples

  1. The man whose car was stolen called the police. (車を盗まれた男は警察を呼んだ)
  2. I have a friend whose father is a famous actor. (父親が有名な俳優である友人がいる)
  3. The company whose products are the cheapest wins. (製品が最も安い会社が勝つ)
  4. Students whose grades are below 60 must retake the exam. (成績が60点以下の学生は再試験)
  5. The house whose roof was damaged is being repaired. (屋根が損傷した家が修理されている)
  6. She's the author whose book became a bestseller. (本がベストセラーになった著者だ)
  7. The country whose economy is growing fastest is India. (経済が最も速く成長している国はインドだ)

忘れがちなポイント

where / when / why — 関係副詞

where — 場所

  1. This is the restaurant where we first met. (ここが初めて会ったレストランだ)
  2. I know a place where you can get great ramen. (おいしいラーメンが食べられる場所を知っている)
  3. The city where I grew up has changed a lot. (育った街はだいぶ変わった)
  4. Is there a cafe where I can use Wi-Fi? (Wi-Fiが使えるカフェはある?)

when — 時

  1. I remember the day when we graduated. (卒業した日を覚えている)
  2. Summer is the season when everyone goes on vacation. (夏はみんなが休暇に行く季節だ)
  3. There are times when I miss Japan. (日本が恋しくなる時がある)

why — 理由

  1. The reason (why) I'm late is the traffic. (遅れた理由は交通渋滞だ)
  2. That's the reason (why) she left. (それが彼女が去った理由だ)
  3. I don't understand the reason why he's angry. (彼が怒っている理由がわからない)

忘れがちなポイント

Preposition + which/whom (フォーマル)

口語では前置詞を文末に置くが、フォーマルでは関係代名詞の前に置く。

Informal Formal
The person (who) I spoke to The person to whom I spoke
The chair (which) I sat on The chair on which I sat
The company (that) I work for The company for which I work
The topic (which) we talked about The topic about which we talked

Examples

  1. The hotel in which we stayed was excellent. (= the hotel we stayed in)
  2. The man to whom I spoke was very helpful. (= the man I spoke to)
  3. The bridge across which we walked is 500 years old.
  4. The reason for which he resigned is unclear.

which で文全体を受ける (非制限用法)

前の文全体を受けて「そのこと」という意味。

  1. He passed the exam, which surprised everyone. (試験に受かった、それはみんなを驚かせた)
  2. She quit her job, which I think was a mistake. (仕事を辞めた、それは間違いだと思う)
  3. He arrived late, which made the boss angry. (遅刻した、それで上司が怒った)
  4. They won the championship, which nobody expected. (優勝した、それは誰も予想していなかった)
  5. She speaks 5 languages, which is really impressive. (5か国語を話す、それは本当に印象的だ)

that を使わなければならない場合

  1. 最上級の後: the best movie that I've ever seen
  2. 序数の後: the first person that arrived
  3. all / every / any / no + 名詞の後: everything that he said, all the money that I have
  4. the only の後: the only thing that matters
  5. 人+もの が先行詞: the people and places that I love

Common Mistakes by Japanese Speakers

  1. ✗ The man which I met → ✓ The man who/that I met (人には who/that)
  2. ✗ My mother, that is 60, ... → ✓ My mother, who is 60, ... (非制限用法で that は使えない)
  3. ✗ The girl who I love her → ✓ The girl who I love (her は不要!)
  4. ✗ The city where I visited → ✓ The city (which/that) I visited (visit は他動詞 → where は不可)
  5. ✗ The reason because I'm late → ✓ The reason (why) I'm late

Practice Exercises

Combine the sentences using relative clauses:

  1. I met a woman. She speaks 5 languages. → I met a woman who speaks 5 languages.
  2. The book is very interesting. I'm reading it. → The book (that/which) I'm reading is very interesting.
  3. Tom lives in London. His wife is Japanese. → Tom, whose wife is Japanese, lives in London.
  4. This is the restaurant. We had our first date here. → This is the restaurant where we had our first date.
  5. She passed the exam. It surprised everyone. → She passed the exam, which surprised everyone.
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