70461
Here is a phrase:

> ねだんが たかいレストランは あまり すきじゃない
>
> I don't like high price restaurant very much

Now, the questions.

  1. If I used **たかいねだん レストラン** , would it be wrong? Or would mean something different?
  2. The が particle indicates what is high/tall in the restaurant, right? This will always be indicated with a が particle?
  3. If I take away the **ねだんが** will the phrase then become something like: "I don't like tall restaurant very much"?

Disclaimer: I'm still learning Kanji, so if possible, please add kana.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-08-31T14:28:03.137
70460
2019-08-31T17:07:59.600
2020-06-17T08:18:27.500
-1
35198
question
particle-が adjectives relative-clauses
Questions about Noun+が+Adjective
Your sentence:

> 値段{ねだん}が高{たか}いレストランはあまり好{す}きじゃない。

Have you come across the concept of a **relative clause** yet? Look this up.
In English nouns are modified by adjectives. In Japanese nouns can also be
modified by entire clauses. In this case 値段が高い is a sentence/clause in its own
right with the meaning "the price is high". This is the relative clause here
and it is used to modify the noun レストラン. So 値段が高いレストラン means "a restaurant
**where** the price is high".

> If I used たかいねだん レストラン, would it be wrong?

Yes it would be wrong because たかいねだん is a noun phrase and レストラン is a noun. You
cannot put two nouns/noun phrases next to each other. But you know that you
can modify a noun with another noun using の, right? So たかいねだん **の** レストラン
would be grammatical. I'm not a native speaker so I'm not sure how natural
that would be though.

> The が particle indicates what is high/tall in the restaurant, right? This
> will always be indicated with a が particle?

There is a rule that (most of the time) in a relative clause you can only mark
the subject by が (or の) and not by は. In relative clauses が can be replaced by
の.

> If I take away the ねだんが will the phrase then become something like: "I don't
> like tall restaurant very much"?

It could do but that would be an unusual thing to say. 高いレストランはあまり好きじゃない
without any further context is ambiguous. It could mean that you don't like
restaurants where the food is expensive, you don't like restaurants that you
can't afford to buy, or, as you said, you don't like restaurants which are
tall. Context is key in Japanese.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-08-31T15:05:55.253
70461
2019-08-31T15:05:55.253
7944
70460
answer
1. Yes, it would be grammatically incorrect. `たかい[値段]{ねだん} の レストラン` would be the grammatically correct equivalent (notice the `の` particle).

  2. First look at `[値段]{ねだん}がたかい` separately : it means "The price(s) is/are high". `が` [marks the subject](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E3%81%8C#Particle) of a sentence in Japanese. By the way yes, `[値段]{ねだん}がたかい` **is** a sentence, even though you may notice there isn't any verb per se : a Japanese sentence doesn't need a verb like an English one does (furthermore, Japanese adjectives can be considered [some kind of a verb](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stative_verb)).

The structure encountered here is the one of a relative clause, similar to the
ones built with `which` for example in English. Consider the English _literal_
translation :

> I don't like restaurants of which the prices are high.

It's made up of 2 sentences : `I don't like restaurants` and `The prices are
high`, linked semantically together through `of which` (or more naturally
`where`).

The Japanese sentence is similar, it's made up of `レストランはあまり[好き]{すき}じゃない` and
`[値段]{ねだん}がたかい` (direct literal translation of the 2 above English clauses).

Now, in Japanese, these 2 clauses are linked by putting the 2nd one in front
of the noun it qualifies (here, `レストラン`).

So : `[値段]{ねだん}がたかい` → `The prices are high` ; `[値段]{ねだん}がたかいレストラン` →
`Restaurants of which / where the prices are high`.

Note that in the relative clause, subject-marking `が` particle is sometimes
replaced by the `の` particle. In this example :
`[値段]{ねだん}のたかいレストランはあまり[好き]{すき}じゃない` would be a complete equivalent, with the
same meaning.

Also note that, if the relative clause ends with a noun or a na-adjective for
example, there could be an additional particle (for example,
`[周り]{まわり}が[静か]{しずか}なレストランは[好き]{すき}` / `I like restaurants of which the
surroundings are calm` -- notice the `な` between the 2 clauses), but the
construction is the same : the relative clause is put directly in front of its
noun antecedent.

I suggest you check [the wikipedia
explanation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relative_clause#Japanese), it does
a good job at showing how relative clauses are, in a way, "adjectified"
sentences in Japanese.

  3. Yes and no. Grammatically, `[高い]{たかい}レストランはあまり[好き]{すき}じゃない` is correct, and could mean both "I don't like expensive restaurants" or "I don't like high / tall restaurants".

It will mostly depend on context (e.g. the discussion it fits in). Note that,
though, "high restaurants" is quite an unnatural expression and I think not
very clear of what is meant, and that would be the same in Japanese. If "a
restaurant situated high above the ground / high in a building / in a tall
building" is meant, just as it would be mentioned more specifically in
English, it would also be in Japanese (unless the context has already
explicitly established what is meant by `たかい`). So in this particular example,
and without further context, `たかいレストラン` would most likely be interpreted as
"an expensive restaurant".

`[値段]{ねだん}がたかいレストラン` has the advantage of being more specific, and of teaching
you of relative clauses in Japanese ;)
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-08-31T16:17:23.653
70462
2019-08-31T17:07:59.600
2019-08-31T17:07:59.600
4533
4533
70460
answer