g1-37.md 830 B

Subject-predicate constructions as modifiers

An entire subject-predicate construction (a sentence or clause) such as 我給她打電話, 他今天買, 我們去北京參觀 can be used as a modifier for a noun. When used this way, there must be a 的 inserted between the construction and the noun it modifies:

我給她打電話的時候﹐她正在吃飯。
    When I called her, she was eating.
他今天買的花兒很漂亮。
    The flowers he bought today are very pretty.
請你們看我們去北京參觀的照片。
    Please take a look at the pictures we took while visiting Beijing.
這是誰給你寫的信﹖
    Who wrote this letter to you?

The subject-predicate construction always goes immediately before the 的, which goes immediately before the noun to be modified.