Reordering a Relative-Clause Question
A student is working on a sentence-reordering item in the grammar section. The Japanese sentence is: 『あなたが昨日私に貸してくれた本はどこにありますか。』 The nine word cards are: Where / is / the / book / you / gave / me / yesterday / ? 'Where' is already placed at the beginning. The student first writes: 'Where is the book? You gave me yesterday.' The teacher says this is two sentences, not one, and that the relative clause does not need 'that' here. The student's second attempt is: 'Where is the book you gave me yesterday?' but he is not sure why 'yesterday' comes at the end. A classmate then writes: 'Where is the book yesterday you gave me?' The student must explain the order, not just produce it, and must use all nine cards exactly once.
1. Arrange all nine cards into one correct sentence and explain the function of 'you gave me yesterday.'
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Correct order: 'Where is the book you gave me yesterday?' The core question is 'Where is the book?' The words 'you gave me yesterday' form a relative clause that describes 'the book.' In English, the relative pronoun 'that' or 'which' can be left out when it is the object of the verb 'gave': 'the book (that) you gave me.' The clause keeps its own subject and verb ('you gave') and its own time word ('yesterday'). 'Yesterday' goes at the end of the clause because it modifies 'gave,' not 'is.' The whole sentence is one question, not two. The nine cards are used once each, and no extra word is needed.
2. Why is 'Where is the book? You gave me yesterday' not acceptable?
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It changes one sentence into two. The first sentence asks where the book is, but 'the book' is not identified. The second sentence says 'You gave me yesterday,' but the object of 'gave' is missing: gave what? In the intended meaning, 'you gave me yesterday' must be attached to 'the book.' The reordering task requires all cards in one sentence, so the two-sentence version fails even though a listener might guess the meaning. Exam answers are judged on structure as well as message. The relative clause is the bridge that identifies which book the speaker means.
3. A classmate writes 'Where is the book yesterday you gave me?' What is wrong?
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The word 'yesterday' is in the wrong clause position. It should modify 'gave,' so it belongs at the end of the relative clause: 'the book you gave me yesterday.' In the classmate's version, 'yesterday' sits right after 'book,' which makes it look like part of the noun phrase 'the book yesterday.' That is not the intended meaning. English relative clauses usually keep the time expression with the verb, not between the noun and the relative clause. The corrected sentence is 'Where is the book you gave me yesterday?' The error is about clause boundaries, not about vocabulary.