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I'm confused with this sentence.

> 顔はやや仰向きがち に、天の栄光をながめやる 目が、深くやすらか にみひらかれて いた。

I would like to understand how it's constructed.

I think 目 is the passive subject of みひらかれて いた as が is its particle, but the
problem comes with the first part of the setence.

Verbs suffixed by がち and then followed by に may function as an adverb, but
then how does it relate with 顔, which is followed by は?
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2019-12-02T15:15:26.203
73322
2019-12-03T00:55:30.407
2019-12-03T00:19:34.967
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question
verbs particle-に adverbs suffixes は-and-が
How does this passive sentence work?
> 「顔{かお}はやや仰向{あおむ}きがち に、天{てん}の栄光{えいこう}をながめやる 目{め}が、深{ふか}くやすらか にみひらかれて いた。」

You ask:

> **Verbs suffixed by がち** and then followed by に may function as an adverb,
> but then how does it relate with 顔, which is is followed は?

「仰向き」 is a **noun** here, not a verb. 「がち」 can be preceded by either the 連用形
of a verb or a noun.

「顔はやや仰向きがち **に** 」 adverbially modifies the following verb phrase
「天の栄光をながめやる」.

「天の栄光をながめやる」, of course, is a relative clause modifying 「目」.

「目」 is the subject of the passive-voice verb phrase「みひらかれていた」.

Thus, the sentence structure is:

> 「(description of head/face positioning + に), (qualifier + 目) + が +
> (qualifier + passive-voice verb phrase みひらかれていた)。」

My own TL (which is not the main part of this answer):

> "With his/her head mostly facing upwards, his/her eyes that gazed out at the
> heavenly glory were widely opened."
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2019-12-02T21:12:53.757
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2019-12-03T00:55:30.407
2019-12-03T00:55:30.407
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answer