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Example sentence:

オオカミのことばに従い、　森に行った。

What is the meaning of this construction? Does it have a special meaning?

olorin
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  • At the risk of (inadvertently) answering the question in a comment...if you mean "従い," I just moused over it with Rikaikun and it gave the definition as an expression meaning "in accordance with; subordinate to." – steve_0804 Jul 23 '14 at 19:53

1 Answers1

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A bare ます-stem can be used to join sentences together, much like the て-form. Another valid way to render this sentence would be as follows:

オオカミのことばに従って、森に行った。

In both cases it translates to "In accordance with the wolf's words, [I] went to the woods."

Kaji
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    Is there a different nuance between using the て-form or the ます-stem? – olorin Jul 24 '14 at 08:25
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    @olorin Yes, ます-stem (eg ～にしたがい、/～により、/～へ行き、/～と聞き、etc) sounds more literary and formal than て-form (eg ～にしたがって、/～によって、/～へ行って、/～と聞いて、etc). –  Jul 25 '14 at 07:27