Why is this こと there?


あなたが今まで行ったことのある観光地を紹介してください。

=> "Please present the places you have visited so far."

I think my translation should be correct and it wasn't much trouble to come up
with it. However, I'm not really sure why there is

ことのある

Usually I would expect the construction た-form + ことが + ありました like
私は中国に住んだことがありました。

So what seems unusual to is the use of の instead of が and the use of present
tense ある instead of past tense ありました.

Since the verbal complex "verb + ことのある" modifies the noun 観光地 I could imagine
の acting in the same function as here:

子供の描いた絵です。 vs. 子供が書いた絵です。

I'm just a bit cautious with this analogy since in these 2 examples above, the
modified noun is the subject. I only rarely encountered this use of の in my
textbook so far and I can't remember a situation where this was done with the
object of a sentence (as it is the case in the sentence in question), so I
don't know if this interchangeability of の/が applies here too.

Concerning ある instead of ありました, well, I'm a bit clueless right now.^^ It's the
main reason though that I suspect that ことのある might not be a variation of the た
+ ことが + ありました pattern but instead something else.^^




You are correct about the construction た＋ことがある but the particle が can change
to の in relative clauses (as in your example) or in adnominal phrases (see
below).

Therefore, a full sentence like 「私は東京へ行ったことがある。」 would change if part of it
becomes a relative clause, like 「東京へ行ったことのある人はここにいますか。」.

The particle also changes when a phrase is modifying a noun. For example, the
usual construction 「背が高い」 would become 「背の高い人」.

In both cases, although it may be "correct" to use の instead of が, I think you
will hear native speakers not doing it sometimes, particularly in casual
speech. It's a somewhat technical point, and these are often ignored in normal
speech.




You are correct about the construction た＋ことがある but the particle が can change
to の in relative clauses (as in your example) or in adnominal phrases (see
below).

Therefore, a full sentence like 「私は東京へ行ったことがある。」 would change if part of it
becomes a relative clause, like 「東京へ行ったことのある人はここにいますか。」.

The particle also changes when a phrase is modifying a noun. For example, the
usual construction 「背が高い」 would become 「背の高い人」.

In both cases, although it may be "correct" to use の instead of が, I think you
will hear native speakers not doing it sometimes, particularly in casual
speech. It's a somewhat technical point, and these are often ignored in normal
speech.

