57995
[This jGram entry](http://jgram.org/pages/viewOne.php?tagE=nari2) says that if
you add なり after the past tense of the verb, it has a similar meaning to まま。

> ～したなり≈ ～したまま

For example:

> 彼女を見つめたなり、しばらくの間微動だにしなかった。

But when I asked about this to my Japanese friends, they corrected it as
「見つめるなり」. One of my friends told me that since the final and main verb of the
sentence 「しなかった」 is in past tense, the first verb 「みつめる」 should be in
dictionary form. This statement clashes with the jGram entry, so I'd like to
learn when it is ok to use past tense + なり and when it is not.

Thank you.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-04-17T17:14:29.460
57992
2018-04-18T03:52:55.543
2018-04-17T20:32:31.107
27431
question
grammar
Is it possible to add なり after the past tense (過去形) of the verb？
According to my intuition, 見つめたなり is much better, but 見つめるなり is not incorrect,
either. Anyway, let me try to explain this as logically as I can.

I think your friend has oversimplified the rule of [relative
tense](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/25378/5010). The tense in a
subordinate clause should be _relative to the main clause_. It can be in ta-
form when you refer to something that happened in the past relative to the
main clause.

～まま describes the continuation of state that was caused by an action in the
past. Therefore it's always used with the ta-form; for example 彼は出て行っ **た**
まま帰らなかった, 窓を開け **た** まま寝てしまった, その時計は壊れ **た** ままです.

Does this mean ～なり is always used with the ta-form, too? Let's see what 明鏡国語辞典
says about なり (emphasis mine).

> ### なり 《接助》
>
> ① 《動詞などの連体形に付いて》ある動作の成立とほとんど **同時**
> に次の動作・作用が起こるときの、先行の動作を表す。「帰るなり部屋へ閉じこもってしまった」「一目見るなり病気だと分かった」
>
> ② 《過去の助動詞「た」の連体形に付いて》ある動作の成立後に次の動作に移らずにそのままの **状態が続く** ときの、先行の動作を表す。 **…まま**
> 。「坐りこんだなり動かない」「服を着たなり寝てしまった」

So, なり is not always interchangeable with まま. When なり is preceded by the
attributive form (①), it means "as soon as ～" or "the moment ～". When なり is
preceded by the ta-form (②), it's interchangeable with まま.

I think your sentence in question is using なり in the second sense. That is, he
stared at her, and while he was still staring at her (continuing state), he
became motionless. But it's not impossible to read this sentence as "as soon
as he stared at her, ...", so 見つめるなり is not incorrect, either.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-04-17T18:38:50.800
57995
2018-04-18T03:52:55.543
2018-04-18T03:52:55.543
5010
5010
57992
answer