ある 晩 彼 は、すっかり 疲 れ 憂鬱 になって 帰 ってきた
One night he came home very tired and sad.
Hi everyone, in these phrase, the stem form of 疲れる is used to connect the verb 疲れる to 憂鬱になって right? But it would expect 疲れる to be conjugated in the -て form. I think I’m missing a grammar point. Any light on the matter would be much appreciated 
It looks like it’s missing a formal conjunctive, and looking it up on google nets me 7200 results with half having a comma, making it read like 疲れ、憂鬱, which backs up that theory. Perhaps it’s an idiomatic colocation that’s halfway to being turned into a word?
Thank a lot! I’m kinda halfway through N3 and I’ve yet to encounter the formal conjunctive, you were really helpful. I don’t know the context of the phrase tho, just found it as an exemple of the usage of 憂鬱…
In this case, it’s not the Formal Conjunctive that’s being used. For one, it wouldn’t be used alongside the て form, since it accomplishes the same function. And also because the Formal Conjunctive, as the name says, is used in formal sentences, which this one isn’t.
What’s happening here is a combination of two verbs, or a verb + an adjective. This is a very frequent occurrence in Japanese, where the first verb is in its ます stem form (same as the Formal Conjunctive) and the second verb/adjective is in whatever form/tense it needs to be in order to convey the thought. An example would be like 読みやすい (easy to read), though this one is with an い adjective. I don’t know what the technical term for this is called though, but I’m sure you’ve seen this quite a lot by now, given you’re studying N3 material.
HTH!
Also 疲れ is also just a noun, think お疲れ様. Definitely related to the formal conjunction as that uses the noun form of the verb. Think of 食べ物 it’s the same effect. 疲れ憂鬱 or 疲れ、憂鬱 possibly have subtly meanings but I’m not sure. Either way it’s either exhausted and depressed or an exhausted depression. I think the ‘and’ in the translation is maybe confusing things.
Thank a lot for your answer! Yeah, I’m familiar with the usage of stem + やすい or にくい, but for some reason this phrase sounded strange to me. As for お疲れ様, I swear I thought ‘Well, I know that 食べ物 usage the stem form of 食べる , but I can’t recall a similar usage of お疲れ, therefore must be something new’, completely overlooking お疲れ様.
The one thing I noticed while studying is the fact that I just need more flexibility in reading native material, since not every piece of grammar is carved in stone in the bunpro database and there could be some pretty common term that are just a slight variation of something I’ve studied.
A quick search on the internet confirmed that connecting verbs with the -masu stem is a common practice in formal speech. The answer was two right google inputs away. Again, thanks a looot.
Exactly!
Try to learn the concepts behind grammar points, rather than merely take them at face value. You’ll quickly notice repeating patterns, and combinations, that will immediately be familiar to you because they’re not really new. I’m glad I was able to help!