subject and object complements in english and turkish

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SUBJECT AND OBJECT COMPLEMENTS IN ENGLISH AND TURKISH

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Page 1: Subject and object complements in english and turkish

SUBJECT AND OBJECT COMPLEMENTS IN ENGLISH AND TURKISH

Page 2: Subject and object complements in english and turkish

SUBJECT AND OBJECT COMPLEMENTS IN ENGLISH AND TURKISH

COLORS IN THIS ARTICLE

The colors of words and underlines indicate the following:

Subjects and subject allomorphs are written and underlined blue. Verbs are written and underlined red. Adjectives and possessive allomorphs are written and underlined purple. Nouns and noun phrases or clauses are written and underlined black. Adverbs and adverbial phrases or clauses and the question allomorphs “mi, mı, mü, mu” and prepositions are written and underlined green. The Turkish glides are /n/, /s/, /ş/ and /y/. Subject complements may be nouns, adjectives or prepositional phrases; therefore, they are all underlined brown to show that they all function as subject complements .

SUBJECT COMPLEMENTS Subject complements are the words or phrases that modify, describe or complete subjects.

Some different times and moods of “linking verbs” are as follows:

“am”, “is”, “are”, “was”, “were”, “is being”, “are being”, “has been”, “have been”, “will be”, “will have been”, “may be”, “may have been”, “can be”, “can’t be”, “can’t have been”, “could be”, “must be”, “must have been”, ”should be” , “should have been”, “ought to be”, “ought to have been”, “needn’t be”, “needn’t have been”, “can’t have been”, etc.

The linking verbs above can link nouns, noun phrases and clauses; adjectives and prepositional phrases to subjects. Some example sentences are as follows:

Nouns and noun phrases:

My son is a doctor . I have been a teacher for twenty years. You must be a good swimmer . This portrait may be a reproduction .

He can’t be a liar . It was I who solved all the problems. It was Jack who was looking for you.

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SUBJECT AND OBJECT COMPLEMENTS IN ENGLISH AND TURKISH

It was she who was singing like a nightingale.

Noun clauses:

This is what I heard. The problem was when we would stop working. What he wanted to learn was how he would overcome the difficulties. Your car may be where you left it. Adjectives:

I am ready. You are tired. They are responsible. Jack may be late. The problem that you are trying to solve must be difficult. Your mother will be angry when she learns everything.

Prepositional phrases:

My mother is at home . Your slippers may be under your bed . My car is in front of my house . Jack can’t be at the cinema , he must be at school . The post office is next to the grocer .

In addition to the “be” linking verbs above, there are some other linking verbs, such as, “feel”, “sound”, “look”, “get”, “become”, “remain”, “taste”, “appear”, “smell”, “come”, “stay”, “seem”, “prove”, “grow”, “turn”, which are all followed by adjectives as subject complements.

Adjectives:

I felt tired after I had finished my work. What you say sounds interesting. As it is getting dark, we must go home. My dreams came true. I feel good after I drink a cup of coffee. Mary always looks beautiful. All of us will grow old in future. Your cake tastes delicious.

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SUBJECT AND OBJECT COMPLEMENTS IN ENGLISH AND TURKISH

OBJECT COMPLEMENTS IN ENGLISH

An object complement may be a noun, a pronoun or an adjective which follows a direct object to rename it or state what it has become. Verbs of making and naming, such as make, name, consider, paint, catch, find, call, prefer, turn are generally used as linking verbs:

My sister is always making me mad. (Complaint) He painted the walls green. I found her sleeping. I prefer my tea hot. The hot sun turned the leaves yellow.

TURKISH SUBJECT COMPLEMENTS

Turkish is more complicated than English. Therefore, one should learn the common fundamental characteristics of all Turkish sentences before learn-ing and using subject complements in Turkish.

The main characteristics of all Turkish sentences

When you try to make a sentence in Turkish, you should learn that there may be two subjects in all Turkish sentences; one of them is a pronoun or a noun used in the beginning of a sentence, the other one at the end of the same sentence attached to the main verb as a subject allomorph that carries the same meaning of the pronoun or noun used in the beginning.

Personal pronouns in Turkish and English are as follows:

“ben-“I” , “sen-“you”, “o-“he, she, it”, “biz-“we”, “siz-“you”, “onlar-“they”

Turkish is said to be an agglutinative language, which means that suffixes are attached to word roots, stems and frames one following the other in a sequence to arrange words. To understand how these syllable and suffix chains are arranged, one should understand the vowel and consonant harmony rules of the Turkish language before one begins to attach suffixes to roots or stems, and to the suffixes following them.

In order to find and use a suitable personal subject allomorph, you should first learn and follow the vowel harmony of the preceding vowel, which helps you to choose the subject allomorph. The vowel sequence diagrams

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SUBJECT AND OBJECT COMPLEMENTS IN ENGLISH AND TURKISH

are as follows:

VOWEL HARMONY SEQUENCE

A Turkish speaker follows two certain harmony chains to produce a vowel harmony sequence.:

1. The hard vowel harmony chain. 2. The thin vowel harmony chain.

1. The hard (back) vowel harmony chain is “o ⟶ u ⟶ a ⇄ ı”

2. The thin (front) vowel harmony chain is “ö ⟶ ü ⟶ e ⇄ i”

In both chains, the first vowels /o/ and /ö/ never repeat themselves. The other vowels can be repeated as many times as necessary. The arrow (→) points to the vowel that should follow the previous one. The arrows (⇄), pointing to both directions, show that /I/ may follow /e/, or /e/ may follow /i/. In the hard vowel harmony chain, /a/ and /ı/ do the same. Furthermore, besides the arrows, the letters “r” is put under repeatable vowels to complete our diagrams: 1. The hard (back) vowel harmony chain: “o ⟶ ur ⟶ ar ⇄ ır” 2. The thin (front) vowel harmony chain: “ö ⟶ ür ⟶ er ⇄ ir”

As one could see, the two diagrams look exactly like one another. All the words in the Turkish language follow either the first or the second harmony sequences. The words borrowed from other languages do not follow these sequences as expected, but the suffixes that attach to them follow the vowels of the last syllables of such words. Consequently, one could build up meaningless vowel chains made up of only vowels following the two vowel chains: “o*u*u*a*ı*a*ı”, “o*a*ı*a”, “ü*ü*e*e*i”, “ö*e*i*e”, "ö*ü*ü*ü", "o*a" For instance: “kom*şu*ya” (o*u*a); “kom*şu*lar*dan” (o*u*a*a); “ge*le*cek*ler” (e*e*e*e); “o*luş*tur*duk*la*rı*mız*dan” (o*u*u*u*a*ı*ı*a); “u*nu*ta*lım” (u*u*a*ı); “o*ku*la” (o*u*a); “ten*ce*re*ye” (e*e*e*e); “ka*ça*ma*ya*cak” (a*a*a*a*a)

Subject allomorphs in simple present tense are as follows:

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SUBJECT AND OBJECT COMPLEMENTS IN ENGLISH AND TURKISH

Ben = im, ım, üm,um. Sen = /s/in, /s/ın, /s/ün, /s/un. O = zero. Biz = iz, ız, üz, uz. Siz = /s/iniz, /s/ınız, /s/ünüz, /s/unuz. Onlar = zero or ler, lar Now we can build up our first sentence having a subject complement:

Ben Öğretmen-im. (ben /öğ*ret*me*nim) I am a teacher. In the Turkish sentence above, there are two subjects; “ben” and “im”. The first subject “ben” is a pronoun; the second one “im” is a compulsory subject allomorph. In Turkish sentences pronouns are generally ignored if they are not thought to be very important because the compulsory subject allomorphs bear the same meanings of the pronouns. Therefore, a writer or speaker usually ignores a subject pronoun, which is an optional element in Turkish sentences. Consider the following. Present positive sentences:

Öğretmen-im. (öğ*ret*me*nim) I am a teacher. Öretmen-/s/in. (öğ*ret*men*sin) You are a teacher. Öğretmen. (öğ*ret*men) He or she is a teacher. Öğretmen-iz. (öğ*ret*me*niz) We are teachers. Öğretmen-/s/iniz. (öğ*ret*men*si*niz) You are teachers. Onlar öğretmen. (on*lar / öğ*ret*men) They are teachers.

Present negative sentences:

In negative sentences the word “değil” is used to turn the sentences above into the negative form:

Öğretmen değil-im. (öğ*ret*men / de*ği*lim) I am not a teacher. Öğretmen değil-/s/in. (öğ*ret*men / de*ğil*sin) You are not a teacher. Öğretmen değil. (öğ*ret*men / de*ğil) He or she is not a teacher. Öğretmen değil-iz. (öğ*ret*men / de*ği*liz) We are not teachers. Öğretmen değil-/s/iniz. (öğ*ret*men / de*ğil*si*niz) You are not teachers. Öğretmen değil-ler. (öğ*ret*men / de*ğil*ler) They are not teachers.

Present positive interrogative sentences:

(The “mi, mı, mü, mu” allomorphs turn positive Turkish sentences into question forms.)

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SUBJECT AND OBJECT COMPLEMENTS IN ENGLISH AND TURKISH

Öğretmen mi-/y/im? (öğ*ret*men / mi*yim) Am I a teacher?

Öğretmen mi-/s/in? (öğ*ret*men / mi*sin) Are you a teacher? Öğretmen mi? (öğ*ret*men / mi) Is he or she a teacher? Öğretmen mi-/y/iz? (öğ*ret*men / mi*yiz) Are we teachers? Öğretmen mi-/s/iniz? (öğ*ret*men / mi*si*niz) Are you teachers? Onlar öğretmen mi? (on*lar / öğ*ret*men / mi) Are they teachers? The /n/, /s/, /ş/, /y/ consonants are glides that are generally put between two vowels to pass the sound harmoniously from one vowel to the other. However, before simple past tense allomorphs “di, dı, dü, du” the /y/ glides are inserted.

Present negative yes-no interrogative sentences:

Öğretmen değil mi-/y/im? (öğ*ret*men / de*ğil / mi*yim) Am I not a teacher? Öğretmen değil mi-/s/in? (öğ*ret*men / de*ğil / mi*sin) Are you not a teacher? Öğretmen değil mi? (öğ*ret*men / de*ğil / mi Is he or she not a teacher? Öğretmen değil mi-/y/iz? (öğ*ret*men / de*ğil / mi*yiz) Are we not teachers? Öğretmen değil mi-/s/iniz? (öğ*ret*men / de*ğil / mi*si*niz) Are you not teachers? Öğretmen değil-ler mi? (öğ*ret*men / de*ğil*ler / mi) Aren’t they teachers?

In place of the noun “öğretmen”, one can use other nouns, adjectives or postpositional phrases in these sentences. Additionally, subject allo-morphs also change following the last vowels of the nouns, adjectives and

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postpositional phrases:

Güzel-im. (gü*ze*lim) I am beautiful. Akıllı-/y/ım. (a*kıl*lı*yım) I am clever. Güçlü-/y/üm. (güç*lü*yüm) I am powerful. Yorgun-um. (yor*gu*num) I am tired. Kapı-/n/ın önü/n/de -/y/im. (ka*pı*nın / ö*nün*de*yim) I am in front of the door .

Other subject allomorphs are as follows:

Güzel-/s/in. (gü*zel*sin) You are beautiful. Akıllı-/s/ın. (a*kıl*lı*sın) You are clever. Güçlü-/s/ün. (güç*lü*sün) You are poverful. Yorgun-/s/un. (yor*gun*sun) You are tired. Bahçe-de-/s/in. (bah*çe*de*sin) You are in the garden . Okul-da-/s/ın. (o*kul*da*sın) You are at school . O çok güzel . (o / çok / gü*zel) She is very beautiful . Jack çok akıllı . (jack / çok / a*kıl*lı) Jack is very clever . Çok çalışkan -ız. (çok / ça*lış*ka*nız) We are very hardworking . Deneyimli-/s/iniz. (de*ne*yim*li / si*niz)You are experienced. Sinema - da -lar. (si*ne*ma*da*lar) They are at the cinema . Ev -de -/y/iz. (ev*de*yiz) We are at home . Yorgun-uz. (yor*gu*nuz) We are tired.

SUBJECT COMPLEMENTS IN SİMPLE PAST TENSES

Simple past tense positive:

Past time allomorphs “di, dı, dü, du, ti, tı, tü, tu” are used in all Turkish past tenses including subject complements. The subject allomorphs are as follows:

Ben-“im, ım, üm, um”. Sen-“in, ın, ün, un”, O-zero, Biz-“ik, ık, ük, uk”. Siz-“iniz, ınız, ünüz , unuz”. Onlar-zero or “ler-lar” Follow the examples:

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SUBJECT AND OBJECT COMPLEMENTS IN ENGLISH AND TURKISH

Geçen sene öğrenci/y/-di-im. (ge*çen / se*ne / öğ*ren*ciy*dim) I was a student last year.

In the example sentence above, there are two successive identical “ i-i” vowels. All successive identical vowels in Turkish, such as “e-e”, “a-a”, “i-i”, “ı-ı”, “ü-ü, “u-u” combine and verbalize as single vowels: “e”, “a”, “i”, “ı”, “ü”, “u” because of the harmony rules of Turkish. For instance:

Ev-de/y/-di-im. (ev*dey*dim) = I was at home. Hazır-dı-ın. (ha*zır*dın) = You were ready. Üzgün-dü. (üz*gün*dü) = He was sorry. Yorgun-du-uk. = (yor*gun*duk) = We were tired. Sorumlu/y/-du-unuz. (so*rum*luy*du*nuz) = You were responsible. Aç-tı-lar. (aç*tı*lar) =They were hungry. Asker-di-im. (as*ker*dim) = I was a soldier . Bahçe-de/y/-di-ik. (bah*çe*dey*dik) = We were in the garden . Çocuklar öğren-mek için istekli/y/-di-ler. (ço*cuk*lar / öğ*ren*mek / i*çin / is*tek*liy*di*ler) = The children were eager to learn.

(The stressed syllables in the examples above are written in bold letters.) Simple past tense negative:

The verb “değil” is used in simple past tense as in simple present tense. Follow the example sentences:

Ev -de değil-di-im. (ev*de / de*ğil*dim) I wasn’t at home . Hazır değil-di-in. (ha*zır /de*ğil*din) You weren’t ready. Sorumlu değil-di. (so*rum*lu / de*ğil*di) He or she wasn’t responsible. Çocuk değil-di-ik. (ço*cuk / de*ğil*dik) We weren’t children. Okul -da değil di-iniz. (o*kul*da / de*ğil*di*niz) You weren’t at school . Sıkıcı değil-ler-di. (sı*kı*cı / de*ğil*ler*di) They weren’t boring.

Simple past tense positive question:

Ev -de mi/y/-di-im? (ev*de / miy*dim) Was I at home ? Asker mi/y/-di-in? (as*ker / miy*din) Were you a soldier ?

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Konser sıkıcı mı/y/-dı? (kon*ser / sı*kı*cı / mıy*dı) Was the concert boring? Hazır mı/y/-dı-ık? (ha*zır /mıy*dık) Were we ready? Ümitli mi/y/-di-iniz? (ü*mit*li / miy*di*niz) Were you hopeful? Kalabalık mı/y/-dı-lar? (ka*la*ba*lık / mıy*dı*lar) Were they crowded?

Simple past tense negative question:

Sabırlı değil mi/y/-di-im? (sa*bır*lı / de*ğil / miy*dim) Wasn’t I patient? İstanbul -da değil mi/y/-di-in? (is*tan*bul*da / de*ğil / miy*din) Weren’t you in İstanbul ? İstekli değil mi/y/-di? (is*tek*li / de*ğil / miy*di) Wasn’t he eager? Sokak -ta değil mi/y/-di-ik? (so*kak*ta / de*ğil / miy*dik) Weren’t we in the street ? Kararlı değil mi/y/-di-iniz? (ka*rar*lı / de*ğil / miy*di*niz) Weren’t you determined? Sarhoş değil mi/y/-di-ler? (sar*hoş /de*ğil /miy*di*di*ler) Weren’t they drunk? Ayakkabılar-ın çamurlu değil mi/y/-di? (a*yak*ka*bı*la*rın / ça*mur*lu / de*ğil / miy*di) Weren’t your shoes muddy?

Present perfect positive:

Simple present tense is used in Turkish; but its equivalent in English is in present perfect tense. Follow the examples:

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SUBJECT AND OBJECT COMPLEMENTS IN ENGLISH AND TURKISH

Ben yirmi yıldır öğretmen-im. (ben / yir*mi / yıl*dır / öğ*ret*me*nim) I have been a teacher for twenty years.

Ne kadar zamandır burada-/s/ın? (ne / ka*dar / za*man*dır / bu*ra*da*sın) How long have you been here?

İki yıldır hapis -te . (i*ki / yıl*dır / ha*pis*te) He has been in jail for two years.

In some Turkish sentences past tenses are used:

Birkaç kez Londra -da bulun-du-um. (bir*kaç / kez / lon*dra*da / bu*lun*dum) I have been in London several times.

Modal linking verbs used in English and Turkish

will be = ol-acak (o*la*cak) (positive)

won’t be = ol-ma-/y/acak (ol*ma*ya*cak) (negative)

can be or may be = ol-abil-ir. (o*la*bi*lir) (positive)

can’t be or may not be = ol-amaz (o*la*maz) (negative)

must be and should be= ol-malı (ol*ma*lı) (positive)

mustn’t be and shouldn’t be= ol-ma-malı (ol*ma*ma*lı) (negative)

there used to be = eskiden var-dı (es*ki*den / var*dı) (positive)

There didn’t use to be = eskiden yoktu (es*ki*den / yok*tu) (negative)

have to be = olmak zorunda (ol*mak / zo*run*da) (positive)

Don’t have to be = olmak zorund değil (ol*mak / zo*run*da / de*ğil) (negative)

Some Turkish consonants used above are single underlined to show that they detach from their syllables and attach to the following vowels.

Suitable subject allomorphs are attached to modal verbs as in the follow-ing sentences:

ol-acak = will be

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positive:

Yarın bürom -da ol-acak-ım. (ya*rın / bü*rom*da / o*la*ca*ğım) I will be in my office tomorrow.

Gelecek hafta Londra -da ol-acak-/s/ın. (ya*rın / lon*dra*da / o*la*cak*sın) You will be in London tomorrow.

Jack öğleden sonra hazır ol-acak. (jack / öğ*le*den / son*ra / ha*zır / o*la*cak) Jack will be ready in the afternoon.

Sorumlu ol-acak-ız. (so*rum*lu / o*la*ca*ğız) We will be r esponsible .

Beş dakika-da ev -de ol-acak-ım. (beş / da*ki*ka*da / ev*de / o*la*ca*ğım ) I will be at home in five minutes.

Bir gün zengin ol-acak-/s/ın. (bir / gün / zen*gin / o*la*cak*sın) You will be rich some day.

Oğul-um yakında doktor ol-acak. (oğ*lum /ya*kın*da / dok*tor / o*la*cak) My son will be a doctor soon.

Negative:

Sorumlu ol-ma-/y/acak-ım. (so*rum*lu / ol*ma*ya*ca*ğım) I won’t be responsible. Mutlu ol-ma-/y/acak-/s/ın. (mut*lu / ol*ma*ya*cak*sın) You won’t be happy.

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Ev -de ol-ma-/y/acak. (ev*de / ol*ma*ya*cak) He won’t be at home .

Okul - un - ö/n/ün -de ol-ma -/y/acak-ız. (o*ku*lun / ö*nün*de / o*ol*ma*ya*ca*ğız)) We will not be in front of the school .

Tembel ol-ma-/y/acak-/s/ınız. (tem*bel / ol*ma*ya*cak*sı*nız) You won’t be lazy.

Toplantı -da ol-ma-/y/acak-lar. (top*lan*tı*da / ol*ma*ya*cak*lar) They won’t be in conference .

Positive yes-no question:

Mutlu ol-acak mı-/y/ım? (mut*lu / o*la*cak / mı*yım) Will I be happy?

Hazır ol-acak mı-/s/ın? (ha*zır / o*la*cak / mı*sın) Will you be ready?

Sakin ol-acak mı? (sa*kin / o*la*cak /mı) Will he or she be calm? Başarılı ol-acak mı-/y/ız? (ba*şa*rı*lı / o*la*cak / mı*yız) Will we be successful ?

Zamanın-da okul -da ol-acak mı-/s/ınız? (za*ma*nın*da / o*kul*da / o*la*cak / mı*sı*nız) Will you be at school in time?

Öğren-mek için istekli ol-acak-lar mı? (öğ*ren*mek / i*çin / is*tek*li / o*la*cak*lar / mı) Will they be eager to learn ?

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Negative yes-no questions:

Başarılı ol-ma-/y/acak mı-/y/ım? ( ba*şa*rı*lı / ol*ma*ya*cak / mı*yım) Will I not be successful?

Okul -da ol-ma-/y/acak mı-/s/ın? (o*kul*da / ol*ma*ya*cak / mı*sın) Won’t you be at school ?

Sorumlu ol-ma-/y/acak mı? (so*rum*lu / ol*ma*ya*cak / mı) Won’t he be responsible?

Toplantı -da ol-ma-/y/acak mı-/y/ız? (top*lan*tı*da / ol*ma*ya*cak / mı*yız) Won’t we be at the meeting ?

Yenilmiş ol-ma-/y/acak mı-/s/ınız? (ye*nil*miş / ol*ma*ya*cak / mı*sı*nız) Won’t you be beaten?

Hazır ol-ma-/y/acak-lar mı? (ha*zır / ol*ma*ya*cak*lar / mı) Won’t they be ready?

ol-abil = can be, may be

Present positive:

Hazır ol-abil-ir-im. (The “ir” allomorph represents simple present time.) (ha*zır / o*la*bi*li*rim) I can (may) be ready.

Hazır ol-abil-ir-/s/in. (ha*zır / o*la*bi*lir*sin) You may (can) be ready.

Hazır ol-abil-ir. (ha*zır / o*la*bi*lir)

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SUBJECT AND OBJECT COMPLEMENTS IN ENGLISH AND TURKISH

He or she can (may) be ready.

Hazır ol-abil-ir-iz. (ha*zır / o*la*bi*li*riz) We can (may) be ready .

Hazır ol-abil-ir-/s/iniz. (ha*zır / o*la*bi*lir *si*niz) You can (may) be ready.

Hazır ol-abil-ir-ler. (ha*zır / o*la*bi*lir*ler) They can (may) be ready. You can put any nouns, adjectives or postpositional phrases in place of the adjectives “hazır” or “ready” to produce other Turkish or English subject complements, such as:

Okul - un ön-ün-de ol-abil-ir-ler. (o*ku*lun / ö*nün*de / o*la*bi*lir*ler) They can (may) be in front of the school .

Present negative “can’t”

To change the positive Turkish sentences above into negative forms the word “ama” is used with the first person singular “ben”. and its plural form “biz”. However, with the rest of the subjects the word “amaz” is used.

Hazır ol-ama-am. (ha*zır / o*la*mam) I can’t be ready.

Hazır ol-amaz-/s/ın. (ha*zır / o*la*maz*sın) You can’t be ready.

Hazır ol-amaz. (ha*zır / o*la*maz) He or she can’t be ready.

Hazır ol-ama-/y/ız.

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(ha*zır / o*la*ma*yız) We can’t be ready.

Hazır ol-amaz-/s/ınız. (ha*zır / o*la*maz*sı*nız) You can’t be ready.

Hazır ol-amaz-lar. (ha*zır / o*la*maz*lar) They can’t be ready.

You can put any nouns, adjectives or postpositional phrases in place of the adjectives “hazır” or “ready” to produce other Turkish or English subject complements.

Present negative: “may not” = “ol-ma-/y/abil-ir”

Öğleden sonra ev -de ol-ma-/y/a-bil-ir-im. (öğ*le*den / son*ra / ev*de / ol*ma*ya*bi*li*rim) I may not be at home in the afternoon.

İstekli ol-ma-/y/abil-ir-/s/in. (is*tek*li / ol*ma*ya*bi*lir*sin) You may not be willing.

Suçlu ol-ma-/y/abil-ir. (suç*lu / ol*ma*ya*bi*lir) He or she may not be guilty.

Başarılı ol-ma-/y/abil-ir-iz. (ba*şa*rı*lı / ol*ma*ya*bi*li*riz) We may not be successful.

Deneyimli ol-ma-/y/abil-ir-/s/iniz. (de*ne*yim*li / ol*ma*ya*bi*lir*si*niz) You may not be experienced.

Toplantı -da ol-ma-/y/abil-ir-ler. (top*lan*tı*da / ol*ma*ya*bi*lir*ler) They may not be at the meeting .

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SUBJECT AND OBJECT COMPLEMENTS IN ENGLISH AND TURKISH

Eskiden var-dı = There used to be

Eskiden bura-da bir postane var-dı. (es*ki*den / bu*ra*da / bir / pos*ta*ne / var*dı) There used to be a post office here.

Eskiden yok-tu = There didn’t use to be

Eskiden bura-da bir bina yok-tu. (es*ki*den / bu*ra* da / bir / bi*na / yok*tu) There didn’t use to be a building here.

Ol-mak zorunda = Have to be

Saat sekiz - de okul- da ol - mak zorunda-/y/ım. (sa*at / se*kiz*de / o*kul*da / ol*mak /zo*run*da*yım) I have to be at school at eight .

Ol-mak zorunda değil = Don’t have to be

Yarın büro -da ol - mak zorunda değil-im. (ya*rın/ bü*ro*da / ol*mak /zo*run*da / de*ği *lim) I don’t have to be in the office tomorrow.

Gerek yok = Needn’t be

Yarın büro -da ol-ma-am-a gerek yok. (ya*rın / bü*ro*da / ol*ma*ma / ge*rek / yok) I needn’t be in the office tomorrow.

OBJECT COMPLEMENTS IN TURKISH

Some Turkish and English object complements are almost the same; but some others are different. Please compare the following example sen-tences: Kızkardeş- im hep ben -i kızdır-ır (kızdır-ı.yor). (“Kızdır” is a transitive verb.) (kız*kar*de*şim / hep / be*ni / kız*dı*rı*yor) My sister is always making me mad. (Complaint)

If a speaker uses a simple present tense in the Turkish or in the English sentence above, the speaker is expressing his sister’s habit; but if he uses a

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SUBJECT AND OBJECT COMPLEMENTS IN ENGLISH AND TURKISH

continuous verb, the sentence means he is complaining about his sister.

Duvarlar-ı yeşil-(e) boya-dı-ım. (du*var*la*rı / ye*şi*le / bo*ya*dım) I painted the walls green. Çay- ım -ı sıcak tercih et-er-im. (ça*yı*mı / sı*cak / ter*cih / e*de*rim) I prefer my tea hot.

Onlar- ın teklif-i-/n/i önemli bul-uyor-uz. (on*la*rın / tek*li*fi*ni / ö*nem*li / bu*lu*yo*ruz) We consider their proposal important.

Sıcak güneş yapraklar-ı sarart-tı. (“Sarart” is a transitive action verb.) (sı*cak / gü*neş / yap*rak*la*rı / sa*rart*tı) The hot sun turned the leaves yellow.

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