nspired by one of my students (A-san) taking N2 to write an article on this.

A lot of students that i speak to, not just my new students that i took, but also students from other schools mentioned that that have problem understanding 名詞修飾形/noun-modifying form.

At N2 level, 名詞修飾形 is needed to understand the grammar (i won’t go into details how this can help you to identify what option to pick in the exam) , but also help you to form your sentence. Below is a short example of how 名詞修飾形 is formed.

Let’s try to use this to form 8 sentences to help you to understand this.

Sentence 1:
Wisma Atria is in Orchard Road:
Wisma Atria は Orchard Roadにあります。

Sentence 2:
Now when i want to describe “Wisma Atria that is in Orchard Road”, it will become
「Orchard RoadにあるWisma Atria」

Note that: 「Orchard RoadのWisma Atria」 is also correct, but the meaning will be translated to “Orchard Road’s Wisma Atria”

Notice what happens? You will change the 「あります」 in  Sentence 1’s 「Orchard Roadにあります」  to 「ある」
Remove the 「は」 away, and pop the whole part 「Orchard Roadにある」 to the front of Wisma Atria.

Sentence 3:
Orchard Road of Singapore
シンガポールのOrchard Road

Now try to translate this

Sentence 4:
Wisma Atria that is in Orchard Road of Singapore.

Did you manage to get the answer?

Sentence 5:
Suzuki-san went to Wisma Atria that is in Orchard Road of Singapore.
鈴木さんはシンガポールのOrchard RoadにあるWisma Atriaへ行きました。

Now, let’s try to describe Suzuki-san. Say, Suzuki-san that has money.

Sentence 6:
Suzuki-san has money.
鈴木さんはお金があります。

Sentence 7 (following what has been mentioned in Sentence 2)
Suzuki-san that has money.
お金がある鈴木さん

Let’s try to combine Sentence 5 and 7 together.

Sentence 8:
Suzuki-san that has money went to Wisma Atria that is in Orchard Road of Singapore.
お金がある鈴木さんはシンガポールのOrchard RoadにあるWisma Atriaへ行きました。
Wow, did you guys manage to follow me through the 8 sentences?