Verb in te-form with 中に, as in "通って中に"


I have started to read a novel for practice. I came across these sentences. I
can't make sense of the part _通って中に_.

> 少年はあそこ一夜過ごすことに決めた。彼は羊の群れが、壊れかけた門を **通って中に**
> 、入るのを見届けてから、夜中に羊が迷い出さないように、何本かの棒を門にわたした。

I cannot find an explanation for the use of the combination of the verb in te-
form and _chuu ni_. Figuring out this part would help me a lot to put together
what the sentence says.




中 does not belong to the te-form 通って. The right way to parse this sentence is

> 羊が門を通って、[中]{なか}に入るのを見届けてから
>
> After [he] made sure that the sheep had passed the gate and got inside

In this case, the te-form simply joins multiple verb actions.

The comma between 通って and 中 may have confused you, however, when I google for
the given phrase, I find it without the comma.




中 does not belong to the te-form 通って. The right way to parse this sentence is

> 羊が門を通って、[中]{なか}に入るのを見届けてから
>
> After [he] made sure that the sheep had passed the gate and got inside

In this case, the te-form simply joins multiple verb actions.

The comma between 通って and 中 may have confused you, however, when I google for
the given phrase, I find it without the comma.

