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I was looking at the lyrics for a song and came across the line "例え今はまだ漠然とした夢でも" and am unsure of what the "とした" in "漠然とした夢" means. I am assuming that it ties the "漠然" to "夢" so that this part simply means "vague dream"?

So what is the point of the "とした" connecting these two words? Why can't you just say "漠然夢"? Don't they both ultimately mean the same thing?

Eddie Kal
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  • Please see this answer: https://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/74972/30454 – Eddie Kal Oct 29 '21 at 21:45
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    漠然とした is a fixed adjectival phrase. 漠然と alone (without した) functions adverbially. These are just phrases you need to memorize as you discover them. – A.Ellett Oct 29 '21 at 22:57
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    While your doubt about とした is perfectly understandable, the fact that you seem to think 漠然夢 should work is concerning. It would be ungrammatical even if 漠然 worked as an adjective without とした. – aguijonazo Oct 30 '21 at 02:16
  • Why would it be ungrammatical even if 漠然 worked adjectivally? If it could work as an adjective, wouldn't it be normal for it to modify a noun? – Mauro Oct 30 '21 at 07:41
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    @Mauro Because in Japanese, a bare word like 漠然 is not used as an adjective without some *glue*. Take 綺麗: you don't write 綺麗絵 for *beautiful picture*, you write 綺麗な絵 instead. Adjectives always have an inflected part in Japanese. Without the inflected part (what I call *glue*), the expression will be perceived as ungrammatical. – A.Ellett Oct 30 '21 at 17:56
  • @A.Ellett ok, thanks; I misunderstood what aguijonazo was saying. – Mauro Oct 30 '21 at 18:14

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