Understanding 「家へ帰る間に、傘を忘れてきたのに気づいた。」


Consider

> 家へ帰る間に、傘を忘れてきたのに気づいた。
>
> While going home, I noticed that I had come without my umbrella.

**Questions:**

  1. Just clarifying: のに here is _not_ meant as a conjuctive (meaning "although", "despite"), correct? Instead it's being used as 「(((傘を忘れてきた)の)に)」, correct? That is, first の nominalizes 傘を忘れてきた, and then に is tacked on the end to be used adverbially with 気づいた.

  2. Is 「傘を忘れてきた」considered a subordinate clause in this sentence? If so: since it's in the past tense, does that mean that it is happening in the _relative past_ of when the main verb (気づいた) is happening (so that the 忘れてきた happened _even earlier_ than the 気づいた)? Or are they both uttered with the reference point being the present moment (as in English)?



  1. Yes.
  2. Yes it's a subordinate clause, and 忘れてきた is in the relative past. It becomes relative present when describing something that happens on his way home. 
    * 雪が降っているのに気づいた。  
I noticed it was snowing.

    * 傘を忘れているのに気づいた。  
(ている for continuation-of-state)

Note that the use of 間に is not natural here. You can say 家に帰っていると or 家に帰る途中で.



  1. Yes.
  2. Yes it's a subordinate clause, and 忘れてきた is in the relative past. It becomes relative present when describing something that happens on his way home. 
    * 雪が降っているのに気づいた。  
I noticed it was snowing.

    * 傘を忘れているのに気づいた。  
(ている for continuation-of-state)

Note that the use of 間に is not natural here. You can say 家に帰っていると or 家に帰る途中で.

