The use of verb stem in the sentence


Why in this sentence the stem of the verb is used instead of the verb 炒める
itself?

> まず、玉葱を炒め、次に肉を入れて下さい。




Most often in literary or written formats, you will see the 'verb stem' used
in this way as a less 'colloquial' alternative to the て-form. So your example
can also be rendered as follows:

> まず、玉葱を炒め **て** 、次に肉を入れて下さい。

See also this thesis entitled ["On Japanese Coordinate Structures: An
Investigation of Structural Differences Between the -te and the
i-form"](https://etd.ohiolink.edu/!etd.send_file?accession=osu1392805640&disposition=inline),
if you are interested to read a rather more detailed treatment on the subject!

Hope that helps!




Most often in literary or written formats, you will see the 'verb stem' used
in this way as a less 'colloquial' alternative to the て-form. So your example
can also be rendered as follows:

> まず、玉葱を炒め **て** 、次に肉を入れて下さい。

See also this thesis entitled ["On Japanese Coordinate Structures: An
Investigation of Structural Differences Between the -te and the
i-form"](https://etd.ohiolink.edu/!etd.send_file?accession=osu1392805640&disposition=inline),
if you are interested to read a rather more detailed treatment on the subject!

Hope that helps!

