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?
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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_0804Jul 23, 2014 at 19:53
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1 Answer
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."
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3@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).– user1016Jul 25, 2014 at 7:27