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For full context: https://www.satorireader.com/articles/sanzu-no-kawa-episode-1-edition-m

The sentence in question: その日の朝は、いつもと全く変わらない、平凡な朝だった。

My attempt at translation: "This days morning, really as always nothing changed and it was an ordinary morning."

I usually would expect 変わらない to be either て or ます form to formally connect to the noun 朝 which it modifies. But instead, it's just plain form. Did I miss out on something, or is this just a question of style?

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This is simply because いつもと全く変わらない is a relative clause that modifies 平凡な朝. Of course a relative clause does not end with て/で/ます. Don't be misguided by the comma :D (Alternatively, you can think いつもと全く変わらない and 平凡な independently modify 朝.)

その日の朝は、いつもと全く変わらない、平凡な朝だった。
It was an ordinary morning that was no different than usual.

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  • Ah okay. I didn't notice yet that attributive structures which are translated with relative clauses didn't use て/で/ます even if they stand alongside further attributes modifying the same noun. ^^ Are there ever constructions like "relative clause + ... + modified noun" which use the て/で/ます form? I absolutely tried not to pay too much attention to the comma! xD
    – Narktor
    Nov 25, 2017 at 10:51
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    @Narktor This may be obvious, but two verbs within one relative clause can be connected with て/で. For example 酒を飲ん運転する人 ("a person who drinks and drives"), 寝ないテレビを見た理由 ("the reason you stayed up late and watched TV"). Nevertheless, the verb directly before the modified noun has to be in the attributive form.
    – naruto
    Nov 25, 2017 at 11:14

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