Use of かける (N5 question)


An N5 vocabulary question I'm having trouble understanding:

> わたしの となりの （ ） を かけた ひとは すずきさんです。
>
> １ くつ ２ かぎ ３ めがね ４ でんわ

The answer is 3: わたしの となりの （ **めがね** ） を かけた ひとは すずきさんです。

Which I construe as _The person beside me who wore glasses is Suzuki-san._

However, what is stopping 4 from being a valid answer?

> わたしの となりの （ **でんわ** ） を かけた ひとは すずきさんです。

I interpret this to be _The person beside me who made a call is Suzuki-san._

A Google search of phrases in this question doesn't bring up anything helpful
for me. The book's explanation doesn't cut it too: 「となり **で** 電話を かけ **ている**
ひとは～」は◯。 Why must **で** and **かけている** be used?




## かけた as Current State

This question is testing whether you understand how the seemingly past tense
かけた can actually be describing the **current state** of a person. This kind of
verb usage happens a lot with articles of clothing.

The correct translation is not “who **wore** glasses”, but rather:

> The person beside me who **is wearing** glasses is Suzuki-san.

めがねを **かけている** 人 or めがねを **かけた** 人 most often means the person who **has
glasses on** , and not the person who is _in the process of putting on_
glasses, nor the person who _has put on_ glasses at some point. Similarly,
青いコートを着た人 usually just means _person in a blue coat_ , not _person who
**wore** a blue coat_.

## かけた as Past Action

In contrast, the かけた in でんわを **かけた** 人 clearly has a past tense meaning, i.e.
_person who **made** a phonecall_.

As you point out, the でんわ choice is not ungrammatical per se (even though the
context may be harder to imagine). However, the big hint is choice #2, かぎ.
This noun acts similarly to でんわ, in that かぎを **かけた** 人 means _person who
**locked** (a door)_. Since you cannot have multiple correct answers, these
choices can be ruled out. Sadly, multiple choice questions often involve this
type of sleuthing and mind-reading.

* * *

> Why must で and かけている be used?

The textbook probably wanted to say that, in order to describe the person's
**current state** and not an action done by them in the past, it must be
電話をかけている人 ( _person who is making a phonecall_ ). Changing the となり **の** to
となり **で** is not necessary, although the meaning will be altered a bit:

  * 私のとなり **の** でんわをかけている人 _[person beside me] who is making a call_
  * 私のとなり **で** でんわをかけている人 _person who is [making a call beside me]_




## かけた as Current State

This question is testing whether you understand how the seemingly past tense
かけた can actually be describing the **current state** of a person. This kind of
verb usage happens a lot with articles of clothing.

The correct translation is not “who **wore** glasses”, but rather:

> The person beside me who **is wearing** glasses is Suzuki-san.

めがねを **かけている** 人 or めがねを **かけた** 人 most often means the person who **has
glasses on** , and not the person who is _in the process of putting on_
glasses, nor the person who _has put on_ glasses at some point. Similarly,
青いコートを着た人 usually just means _person in a blue coat_ , not _person who
**wore** a blue coat_.

## かけた as Past Action

In contrast, the かけた in でんわを **かけた** 人 clearly has a past tense meaning, i.e.
_person who **made** a phonecall_.

As you point out, the でんわ choice is not ungrammatical per se (even though the
context may be harder to imagine). However, the big hint is choice #2, かぎ.
This noun acts similarly to でんわ, in that かぎを **かけた** 人 means _person who
**locked** (a door)_. Since you cannot have multiple correct answers, these
choices can be ruled out. Sadly, multiple choice questions often involve this
type of sleuthing and mind-reading.

* * *

> Why must で and かけている be used?

The textbook probably wanted to say that, in order to describe the person's
**current state** and not an action done by them in the past, it must be
電話をかけている人 ( _person who is making a phonecall_ ). Changing the となり **の** to
となり **で** is not necessary, although the meaning will be altered a bit:

  * 私のとなり **の** でんわをかけている人 _[person beside me] who is making a call_
  * 私のとなり **で** でんわをかけている人 _person who is [making a call beside me]_

