It works like this: V+的+O I think it's a better way to think this kind of pattern as the Attributive Clause of English and when you translation such clauses, try to translate them from the end to the beginning. Let's start from a very similar pattern here, when you first learn Chinese I think you must have seen such simple sentences as: 他吃水果。 He eats fruits. 我买书。 I buy books. (Let's ignore the tense here first. ) These two sentences are very simple and they have the same pattern as in English----S+V+O. Now let's try to add 的 after the verb and they will become to: 他吃的水果 the fruits he ate 我买的书 the books I bought Tada, these are the clauses you are looking for, and remember that they are not sentences any more. In this case, we can use these clauses to make longer sentences now. 他吃的水果很甜。 我买的书太贵了。 Now follow the rules I said earlier, translate such clauses from the end to the beginning. 他吃的水果很甜。---- The fruits he ate were very sweet. 我买的书太贵了。---- The books I bought were too expensive. Now let's try to translate the two sentences you wrote. "This is the restaurant that my roommate mentioned." 这是我室友提到过的那家餐厅。 "A person who buys books tends to be very intelligent." 买书的人往往都很聪明。 Hope this helps. : ) Li Ying

1. This is the restaurant （that my roommate mentioned）. 这是（我舍友提到过的）饭店。 2.A person （who buys books） tends to be very intelligent." 这个（买书的）人非常聪明。 As you can see in these two cases, unlike English, Chinese use (verb clause + 的）IN FRONT OF a noun to modify the noun. WHILE English uses (that + verb clause) AFTER a noun to modify the noun. I think I know the answer now.