This study explores how different interpersonal relationships interact with two linguistic phenomena, Preferred Argument Structure and Repair, in Japanese conversations. The data in the present study consist of conversations between friends and conversations between strangers for comparative analysis. Examining how the linguistic phenomena of Preferred Argument Structure and Repair operate across conversations involving different interlocutor relationships, this study investigates and demonstrates how the interlocutor's conversational management, which results from his/her assessment of the degree of shared information between the interlocutors, interacts with his/her language use. We find that communicative goal(s) necessitated by a particular relationship between speakers affects the use/choice of certain clause types, types of reference used in the clause, etc., thus influencing the patterning of argument structure.