Grammar Info

N5 Lesson 4: 12/13

がある + (Noun)Noun (B) that has Noun (A), Noun (B) with Noun (A)

Structure

Noun + がある
(1) + Noun

(1) のある

Details

  • Part of Speech

    Expression

  • Word Type

    Noun

  • Register

    Standard

About がある + Noun

In this expression, がある has the role of describing the noun that follows it. The description that it is giving is '(A) がある (B)' = '(B) has/with (A)'. This type of phrase is called a relative clause (something that describes a noun), and behaves similarly to an adjective.

In English, a relative clause would require a pronoun such as 'who' (だれ), 'which' どれ, 'that' それ・あれ, 'where' どこ. However, these types of words are not required in Japanese, and the noun will follow がある directly.

Caution

In a relative clause, because (A) is describing (B), (B) will be considered the 'main topic/subject'. This means that will generally not be used in place of . However, can be used instead of , as showing a relationship between (A) and (B) is one of the main functions of .

Examples

--:--

    ベッドがある部屋(へや)

    A room that has a bed.

    たくさん(やす)がある()(がつ)()

    I like the month of May with its many holidays.

    綺麗(きれい)(いけ)がある公園(こうえん)

    A park with a beautiful pond.

    (いえ)がある(ひと)

    People who have a house.

    冷蔵庫(れいぞうこ)がある台所(だいどころ)

    A kitchen with a refrigerator.

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がある + Noun – Grammar Discussion

Most Recent Replies (22 in total)

  • Jake

    Jake

    Noun that has the quality of ~, with ~

    Structure

    • がある + Noun

    [noun that has the quality of ~]

    View on Bunpro

  • Anthropos888

    Anthropos888

    Is there a difference between がある and のある or can I use both? Examples:

    とても価値のある話を聞いたよ。

    彼は能力のある社員です。

    質問のある方はどうぞ。

    豆腐は栄養のある食べ物です。

  • seanblue

    seanblue

    It’s common for が to change to の in subclauses. I’m having trouble finding a grammar page to support that though.

  • Anthropos888

    Anthropos888

    Yes, actually I’m finding more examples with のある than with がある.

    Maybe @mrnoone should add this form to the structure.

  • mrnoone

    mrnoone

    @Anthropos888 @seanblue

    First of all in subordinate clauses subject is marked by が, the topic particle は is not used(except as は contrast particle).
    In a kind of subordinate clauses called relative clauses used to modify a noun(to tell more about it) が can be changed to の.
    You can write it that way to point out that the subject is from the relative clause, not from the main clause. Like a marker.

    Example:
    誰かがあなたの忘れ物を見つけたの?
    この人が「親の残した」形見を見つけてくれた。

    Has someone found your lost property?
    This person has found a keepsake my parents left behind.

    By seeing the “の” you know that 親の残した is modifying the noun.

  • seanblue

    seanblue

    Or perhaps it should be its own grammar point somewhere?

  • seanblue

    seanblue

    Hey @mrnoone, what does this mean? I usually interpret ~ as “approximately” or “around”, like ~50 would mean “about 50”. Obviously that’s not the meaning here, so I have no idea what it’s supposed to mean.

    On second look, it looks like you’re making a callback to the grammar structure, which says ~がある + Noun, but obviously I can’t see that during reviews so it’s very confusing.

  • mrnoone

    mrnoone

    “A property or an attribute that differentiates a thing or person.”

    I wrote more detailed explanation, since we don’t have relative clause/modifying nouns section yet.

  • d11

    d11

    Is this the right place to report bugs? On my screen it shows at the bottom

    [AがあるB - B that has A/B with A <br /> Example: [障害がある]人 - person [that has an injury]・person [with injury]・[injured] person<br /> the phrase [Aがある] modifies(qualifies) the noun B([Aがある] therefore becomes RELATIVE CLAUSE), or in other words describes the noun, similar to the adjectives creating one bigger noun. Since in Japanese there are no relative pronouns (that, which etc), the phrase simply directly precedes the noun(also like an adjective) that is modified. <br /> Relative clauses have some rules:<br /> 1.topic particle は cannot be used<br /> 2.subject particle が can be changed to particle の(this in a sense marks relative clause) 
    

    i.e. the HTML is unescaped and the Japanese phrases are all bracketed.

  • mrnoone

    mrnoone

    Hey

    You can report bugs here:

  • d11

    d11

    Yeah, this was in study mode. Thanks for the pointer; will use that in the future!

  • mrnoone

    mrnoone

    Then it is a bug we are aware of, the team is working on it

  • mrnoone

    mrnoone

    It has been fixed, forgot to notify you about it

  • Solista

    Solista

    What does it mean by “The subject marker が can be replaced with の (this marks a relative clause)” and when can I replace が with の?

  • nk121

    nk121

    FYI, this grammar point is not in Minna No Nihongo I - chapter 9 as this lesson claims.

  • whinette

    whinette

    Neither in DBJG, it points to ある but not with this construction (I couldn’t find it in the book too). @Jake

  • mrnoone

    mrnoone

    @mweibel
    Hey

    This is not exactly about ある, but in DBJG, on page 376 you have an explanation of the relative clauses in Japanese, がある + Noun is a case of that.

    Cheers

    PS
    The monogatari series <3

  • smearedink

    smearedink

  • CosmicGuest

    CosmicGuest

    Why is があります incorrect? As in ベッドがあります部屋。

  • machinaeZER0

    machinaeZER0

    Question/confusion regarding the example I was quizzed on here:

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