> 昨日より、強めに怒られたのだろう

In this sentence specificly, Apparently it means "was scolded more strongly
than yesterday" based on the context but does it mean that you can use a ます
stem of a verb + に to make it an adverb? Or is it related to the ます stem + に +
行く (to go for the purpose of doing something) but with just a different verb?
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2021-12-29T10:53:17.443
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2023-05-15T06:13:46.690
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question
grammar
What does ます stem + に mean?
In general, you can not join ます + に, but you can join na-adjective/noun + に.

You are confused because you are thinking of 強め as a verb, but it is not. The
verb is 強める, not 強め. 強め is the 連用形 (or ます stem) of the verb. Take a look at
the second entry for 強め at [this weblio
page](https://www.weblio.jp/content/%E3%81%A4%E3%82%88%E3%82%81) (emphasis
mine):

> マ行下一段活用の動詞「強める」の連用形、 **あるいは連用形が名詞化したもの** 。Conjunctive form of an ichidan
> verb in the マ column, **or alternatively, nominalization of the conjunctive
> form**.

While it's true that 強める is a verb, what you are seeing in the sentence under
discussion is a _nominalization_ of the 連用形 (or ます stem) of this verb, i.e. 強め
is being treated as a noun. Consequently, you can add に to it just as you
would do with any noun and turn it into an adverb.

Note that this is not to say that any 連用形 form (or ます stem) of a verb can
deliberately be nominalized, but other nominalizations come to my mind such as
出来上がり (from 出来上がる).

> Or is it related to the ます stem + に + 行く (to go for the purpose of doing
> something) but with just a different verb?

It is not related to the grammar (ます stem) + に + 行く.
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2022-04-20T04:48:10.743
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2022-04-20T04:53:29.383
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answer