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Turkish Agglutination

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Chapter 2a: Sentence Structure

This page will teach you how to form a sentence. Typically, sentences are formed in this order: Subject, direct object, verb.

The simplest sentences will be made up of one or two words, and can be formed with a root adjective and a nominative or "olmak" ending.

Basic Examples:

Ben seni seviyorum

I (Subject) You (Accusative / Direct Object) I love (verb with nom. ending)

Kokulusun

Smelly (Adjective) You are (Nominative ending)

Adjectives

The position of adjectives differs with the meaning. If you are declaring something, or simply adding description.

Kırmızı köpek mutlu

Red (descriptive adjective) dog (Nominative) [is] happy (declarative adjective)

In this case we are saying that the red dog is happy.

Bir elma var

One (Indefinite Article / Adjective) apple (Noun) exists (declarative adjective)

In this case we are saying that there is an apple.

Indefinite Article

The indefinite article will always go directly between the desriptive adjectives and the object being desribed.

Uykulu bir kedi yavaşça yürüyor

Sleepy (descriptive adjective) a (indefinite article) cat (nominative) slowly (adverb) is walking (3rd person present verb)

In this case we are saying that A sleepy cat walks slowly.

Conjunctions

These are the three most common conjunctions in Turkish. They are used similarly to English.

Kedi ve köpek

Cat (noun) and (conjunction) dog (noun)

In this case we are talking about cat and dog.

Meyve veya sebze

Fruit (noun) or (conjunction) vegetables (noun)

In this case we are talking about fruits or vegetables.

Yorgunum ama uykulu değilim

I am tired (adjective with nominative ending) but (conjunction) I am not sleepy (adjective with negator and nominative ending)

In this case we are saying that I am tired but not sleepy.

Var and Yok

"Var" and "yok" are adjectives in Turkish which mean "there is" and "there is not". This can circumvent the need for a verb in the sentence, but as such, these adjectives work slightly differently than most.

For example, if we want to say that there are people somewhere:

Çok insan var

Many (Adjective) person (Noun) exists (declarative adjective)

In this case we are saying that there are lots of people.

Inversely, we can say there are no people in said place:

İnsan yok

person (Noun) does not exist (declarative adjective)

In this case we are saying that there are no people.

Note that nouns preceding var and yok are always singular. This is important to the usage of these adjectives. This also works with the possessive case.

Hiç suyum yok

Any (Adjective) My water (Possessive Noun) does not exist (declarative adjective)

In this case we are saying that I have no water.

This, of course carries over into all conjugations.

Değil

Değil is a negator adjective, basically meaning not. It is known for having a unique conjugation style for the possessive and nominative cases. You can use it with any adjective. In this example, we are saying "I am not Turkish"

INCORRECT:

Ben türküm değil

CORRECT:

Ben türk değilim

Note how the -im nominative ending moves to the end of "değil" instead of being added to the end of the initial adjective.

Questions


These are the basic question words in Turkish. You can form basic questions from them, most notably questions starting with 'who, what, when, where, how, and which'.

Ne yapıyorsun?

What are you doing

Ne zaman gideceksin?

When will you go?

Nerede yiyeceksin?

Where will you eat?

Hangi havalimana gidiyorsun?

Which airport are you going to?

Nasıl arayabılırım?

How do I call?

Kimsin?

Who are you?

The most important question word in Turkish is the particle mi. It follows vowel harmony and Nominative conjugation rules. It has no meaning in English, but can be equivocated to the question particle "are" in English.

Mutlu mu?

Are they happy?

İyi misin?

Are you okay?

Hiç meyve var mı?

Are there any fruit?

< 2. Grammar

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2b. Possessive Case >