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Usage of "に" particle

Marmot

後輩
27 Jun 2012
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Hello Everybody.
I have come across a some sentences that use the に particle in ways I can't seem to figure out, such as:
1. 音楽に合わせて踊る。- "Dance to the music"
or
2. リズムに合わせて矢印キーを押す。- "Press arrow keys to the rhythm"
is に合わせて just an irregular construction, is 合わせて an adverb, can I stick it in front of 押す?
Or is it of the form: Verb-てVerb, and if so should I be interpreting it as
リズムに合わせて: "Matching with rhythm" while 矢印キーを押す: "Pressing arrow key"
or am I just in the wrong direction all together?
Thank you for your time.
 
Yeah, Why is it in te form though?
Is リズムに合わせて acting as an adverbish thing? meaning you could rephrase it as
矢印キーをリズムに合わせて押す。
 
It functions as an adverbial phrase, I suppose. You can assemble the components in whatever order you wish.
 
Hello Everybody.
I have come across a some sentences that use the に particle in ways I can't seem to figure out, such as:
1. 音楽に合わせて踊る。- "Dance to the music"
or
2. リズムに合わせて矢印キーを押す。- "Press arrow keys to the rhythm"
is に合わせて just an irregular construction, is 合わせて an adverb, can I stick it in front of 押す?
Or is it of the form: Verb-てVerb, and if so should I be interpreting it as
リズムに合わせて: "Matching with rhythm" while 矢印キーを押す: "Pressing arrow key"
or am I just in the wrong direction all together?
Thank you for your time.
That's quite a common usage of the -te form.
e.g.
辞書を引いて日本語を訳す。
塀で囲って家を守る。
友達と会って確認する。
棚から出して使う。
朝までかかって作る。
 
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How would you describe what's going on in this sentence grammatically
矢印キーをリズムに合わせて押す。
Sorry if I'm a little slow...
 
(矢印キー)(を)(押す)

どういうふうに押す?

リズムに合わせて押す

(矢印キー)(を) / [(リズム)(に)(あわせて)] / (押す)

The リズムに合わせて part is an adverbial phrase modifying 押す, telling how to 押す the 矢印キー
 
(矢印キー)(を)(押す)
どういうふうに押す?
リズムに合わせて押す
(矢印キー)(を) / [(リズム)(に)(あわせて)] / (押す)
The リズムに合わせて part is an adverbial phrase modifying 押す, telling how to 押す the 矢印キー

Do you know of any resource where I can read of this? can this kind of form be expanded?
 
In afraid I don't understand what you mean by "expand" or really even just what it is about this you're having trouble with.

It's sort of like a sentence within a sentence, serving the purpose of modifying the following verb. There's nothing particularly complicated about it.
 
It's not that I'm having trouble understanding your definition, I'm aware of what an adverbial phrase is and what it does but I haven't seen anything about it anywhere else, I just want to have a solid map of what's going on to prevent picking up bad habits.
Edit:
"Expanded" was a horrible word choice. What I meant to ask was whether or not that adverbial phrase "structure" could be used with something else.
eg.
彼はイチゴを(イルカを殺して)食べる - he ate a strawberry (in a dolphin killing way)
despite it making no sense in any context and sounding unnatural could it still be considered "grammatically correct", if a literate japanese person read it would he interpret it as "he dolphin killingly ate a strawberry" or would he crawl up in a ball and die?
Or is as an adverbial phrase the completely wrong way to think of it and if so is it better to interpret it as to simultaneous actions. I should shut up now.
Sorry if I'm making no sense..
 
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Purely grammatically, those are classified as "clause(節)" rather than "phrase(句)".
The -te form itself doesn't have any meaning. The meaning changes depending on the relation between the two clauses.
e.g.
夜中に起きて台所に行った。
I woke up midnight and went to the kitchen.

ビールを飲んでてんぷらを食べた。
I ate tempura while drinking beer.

電車に乗って学校に行った。
I went to school by train.

足を広げて立っていた。
I stood with legs wide apart.

風邪を引いて昨日学校を休んだ。
Since I caught a cold, I was absent from school yesterday.

彼はお金を持っていて払わない。
Although he has enough money to do, he never pays his bills.

As for 彼はイルカを殺してイチゴを食べる, I would interopret it "after killing a dolphin". (彼はイチゴをイルカを殺して食べる is odd, but sounds like "He kills and eats a strawbery and dolphin".)
 
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