名詞修飾節 details
Examples
describes the noun it stands in front of — English needs who/that/which and usually a different word order
昨日買った本、もう読んじゃった。
kinou katta hon, mou yonjatta.
I've already finished the book I bought yesterday. casual
駅の前に立っている人が、田中さんのお兄さんです。
eki no mae ni tatte iru hito ga, tanaka-san no oniisan desu.
The person standing in front of the station is Tanaka's older brother. neutral
日本語があまり得意ではない社員のために、英語の資料もご用意しております。
nihongo ga amari tokui de wa nai shain no tame ni, eigo no shiryou mo go youi shite orimasu.
For staff who are not very confident in Japanese, we have English materials prepared as well. formal
names what the noun is about — the noun is not a participant in the clause at all
隣の家から、魚を焼く匂いがしてきた。
tonari no ie kara, sakana o yaku nioi ga shite kita.
The smell of grilling fish drifted over from next door. neutral
電車が遅れた理由を、駅員さんに聞きました。
densha ga okureta riyuu o, ekiin-san ni kikimashita.
I asked a station attendant the reason the train was late. neutral
the clause's tense is set against the main verb, not against now — た for what comes first, the dictionary form for what comes after
去年、日本へ留学する友だちを空港まで見送りに行ったんだ。
kyonen, nihon e ryuugaku suru tomodachi o kuukou made miokuri ni itta n da.
Last year I went to the airport to see off a friend who was going to study in Japan. casual
会場に早く着いた人から順にご案内いたします。
kaijou ni hayaku tsuita hito kara jun ni go annai itashimasu.
We show guests through in the order they arrived at the venue. formal
Formation
動詞・い形容詞の普通形＋名詞（母が作った料理）attaches to plain clauseな形容詞の普通形＋名詞（日本語が上手な社員・静かだった町）attaches to plain clause名詞の普通形＋名詞（父が医者の家庭・父が医者だった家庭）attaches to plain clause
Notes
写真. Never outside one, and not when the clause already holds an
を-object: 私が本を書いた理由, not ×私の.
Related patterns
Similar
とき is this same structure with the head noun fixed in advance — the sentence's ます sits at its end, never inside the clause (行くとき電話します, ×行きますとき); the difference is that とき turns the result into a time phrase, while a free head noun leaves it a subject or an object.
の stands in for the head noun rather than describing one — 私が買ったの is "the one I bought"; put a noun back in that position and the same clause becomes 私が買った本.
Lookalikes
Both open 名詞＋の, but inside a modifying clause a verb follows and the の is a subject marker が can always replace (私の撮った写真＝私が撮った写真); genitive の never swaps — 私の写真 has no ×私が写真.