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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?

Narktor
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1 Answers1

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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.

naruto
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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 '17 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**で**運転する人 ("a person who drinks and drives"), 寝ない**で**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 '17 at 11:14