Potential following の that follows a noun


> 顔の見えない誰かに...

I wonder how this is translated as '(to) someone that cannot see their faces'.
I thought at first that 見えない誰か, as a modified noun, is connected to 顔 with の
to mean 'someone that cannot see of faces', which is weird...

I have never seen this pattern before and my research ends to no avail.




In relative clauses の is frequently used to mark the subject of the clause in
lieu of using が.

So, as a stand-alone sentence, the clause would just be.

> 顔が見えない。-> I cannot see their face.

But then the が becomes の when used as a relative clause.

> 顔の見えない誰か -> Someone whose face I cannot see

There are various restrictions on when this can and cannot be done. One such
circumstance when が cannot be substituted like this is when there is both an
object marked by を and a subject in the relative clause.




In relative clauses の is frequently used to mark the subject of the clause in
lieu of using が.

So, as a stand-alone sentence, the clause would just be.

> 顔が見えない。-> I cannot see their face.

But then the が becomes の when used as a relative clause.

> 顔の見えない誰か -> Someone whose face I cannot see

There are various restrictions on when this can and cannot be done. One such
circumstance when が cannot be substituted like this is when there is both an
object marked by を and a subject in the relative clause.

