Modifying nouns (how to know if a modified noun is the object or the subject?)


> 晩ご飯を食べなかったボブは、映画で見た銀行に行った。  
>  Bangohan o tabenakatta bobu wa, eiga de mita ginkou ni itta.

This means "Bob, who didn't eat dinner, went to the bank HE saw at the movie."
What if I want to say "Bob, who didn't eat dinner, went to the bank I saw at
the movie." What do I need to change/add?

And why it doesn't mean "...the bank that saw at the movie" being a subject
but an object instead in that clause?




As for the first question, you can simply explicitly indicate the subject in
your second relative clause.

> 晩ご飯を食べなかったボブは、 **私が** 映画で見た銀行に行った。  
>  Bangohan o tabenakatta bobu wa, **watashi ga** eiga de mita ginko ni itta.

* * *

As for the second question, how a relative clause modifies the following noun
depends on what is said or unsaid in the relative clause. Let's start from
this simple sentence:

> 私は映画で銀行を見た。  
>  Watashi wa eiga de ginko wo mita.  
>  _I saw a bank in the movie._

You can make three noun phrases from this:

  * 映画で銀行を見た **人**  
eiga de ginko wo mita hito  
_the **person** who saw a bank in the movie_

  * 私が映画で見た **もの**  
watashi ga eiga de mita mono  
_the **thing** which I saw in the movie_

  * 私が銀行を見た **映画**  
watashi ga ginko wo mita eiga  
_the **movie** where I saw a bank_

As you can see, there is no word that corresponds to English relative pronouns
(eg "which", "who", "where", "that") which can indicate the grammatical role
of the relative clause. This means this phrase can be _theoretically_
ambiguous:

  * 銀行を見た映画 
    1. _the movie where [I/he/etc] saw a bank_
    2. _the movie that saw a bank (?)_

In most cases this is not a problem, because everyone knows a movie is an
inanimate object can't see something. However, you can still make an ambiguous
phrase which can be interpreted in two ways if there is no context:

  * 本を貸した人  
hon o kashita hito

    1. _the person who lent a book (to someone)_ (i.e., the giver)
    2. _the person to whom [I/he/etc] lent a book_ (i.e., the recipient)
  * 私が好きな猫  
watashi ga suki na neko

    1. _the cat who likes me_
    2. _the cat I like_

Related questions:

  * [Ambiguity in meaning of sentences with a noun qualifed by an adjective with が particle](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/23644/5010)
  * [が in subordinate clauses](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/30171/5010)




As for the first question, you can simply explicitly indicate the subject in
your second relative clause.

> 晩ご飯を食べなかったボブは、 **私が** 映画で見た銀行に行った。  
>  Bangohan o tabenakatta bobu wa, **watashi ga** eiga de mita ginko ni itta.

* * *

As for the second question, how a relative clause modifies the following noun
depends on what is said or unsaid in the relative clause. Let's start from
this simple sentence:

> 私は映画で銀行を見た。  
>  Watashi wa eiga de ginko wo mita.  
>  _I saw a bank in the movie._

You can make three noun phrases from this:

  * 映画で銀行を見た **人**  
eiga de ginko wo mita hito  
_the **person** who saw a bank in the movie_

  * 私が映画で見た **もの**  
watashi ga eiga de mita mono  
_the **thing** which I saw in the movie_

  * 私が銀行を見た **映画**  
watashi ga ginko wo mita eiga  
_the **movie** where I saw a bank_

As you can see, there is no word that corresponds to English relative pronouns
(eg "which", "who", "where", "that") which can indicate the grammatical role
of the relative clause. This means this phrase can be _theoretically_
ambiguous:

  * 銀行を見た映画 
    1. _the movie where [I/he/etc] saw a bank_
    2. _the movie that saw a bank (?)_

In most cases this is not a problem, because everyone knows a movie is an
inanimate object can't see something. However, you can still make an ambiguous
phrase which can be interpreted in two ways if there is no context:

  * 本を貸した人  
hon o kashita hito

    1. _the person who lent a book (to someone)_ (i.e., the giver)
    2. _the person to whom [I/he/etc] lent a book_ (i.e., the recipient)
  * 私が好きな猫  
watashi ga suki na neko

    1. _the cat who likes me_
    2. _the cat I like_

Related questions:

  * [Ambiguity in meaning of sentences with a noun qualifed by an adjective with が particle](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/23644/5010)
  * [が in subordinate clauses](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/30171/5010)

