Comparing linking verbs in English and Turkish

LINKING VERBS IN ENGLISH AND TURKISH
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Note: The colors used in this article are as follows:
1. Subjects and subject allomorphs are blue.
2. Verbs and time allomorphs are red.
3. Objects, nouns, and coordinating conjunctions are black.
4. Adverbs, adverbials, adverbial phrases, adverbial clauses, su-
bordinating conjunctions, prepositions and question allomorphs
“mi, mı, mü, mu” are green.
5. Adjectives, noun modifiers and possessor allomorphs are
purple.
6. Subject complements are underlined brown.
7. The glides used in this book are /s/, /ş/, /n/ and /y/.
ygoknel@outlook.com

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SOME IMPORTANT POINTS TO LEARN BEFORE YOU BEGIN
READING THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE
1. A verb phrase contains a main verb and some auxiliary verbs used
together with the main verb in English. It does not contain a subject, an
object or any adverbials. However in Turkish, in addition to a main verb
and auxiliary allomorphs, a subject allomorph that bears the meaning of
the pronoun in the beginning of a sentence is attached to a verb phrases as
a grammatical rule. For instance:
Yarın ben-i gör-ebil-ir-/s/in.
tomorrow me can see you (Read from right to left.)
If you read the English sentence under the Turkish sentence above starting
from right to left, you can find the English equivalent of the Turkish
sentence above. Additionally, in place of the English pronoun “you”, the
Turkish subject allomorph “/s/in” is used instead of the pronoun “sen” of the
Turkish sentence. As a general rule, the personal pronouns are generally
ignored in Turkish sentences if they are not thought dominant.
In order to understand the morphology of the Turkish words, we have to
learn first the morphemes and allomorphs that form the meaningful elements
of languages.
According to English grammars, there are two kinds of morphemes in
English: free morphemes, which are the word roots that cannot be divided
into meaningful units, and bound morphemes, which are the prefixes or
suffixes attached to them. This explanation is true when English is
considered because all the auxiliary verbs, including the modal verbs, are
free morphemes. On the other hand, if we consider their functions, we could
say that the auxiliary verbs are syntactically related to main verbs.
For instance, when we ask someone what “can” means, he cannot explain
the meaning of this word without using a verb following it, such as: “can
work”, “can remember”, “can understand”, “can be”. Therefore, the auxiliary
verbs of the English language may be considered as bound morphemes as
they do not convey sense without being followed by verbs.
On the contrary, all the corresponding auxiliary verbs of the English lan-
guage are expressed in allomorphs attached to one another in Turkish. The
Turkish allomorphs that correspond to the English auxiliary verbs are
showed in the following Turkish verb phrases:
Gör - me - di - ik
see not did we (Read from right to left.)

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Different from English verb phrases, Turkish main verbs contain subject
allomorphs attached to them. Additionally, there may also be a personal
pronoun in the beginning of a Turkish sentence, and a subject allomorph
conveying the same meaning of the personal pronoun in the beginning of a
sentence. The subject allomorphs attached to the ends of the verb
phrases are compulsory elements, but the pronouns used in the beginning
of the sentences are optional elements because the subject allomorphs
used at the ends of the main verbs are enough to express the pronouns
used in the beginning of the sentences. Therefore, these subject pronouns
are generally ignored unless they are intentionally emphasized, such as:
(Ben) yarın sen-i gör - ebil-ir - im. (“Ben” can be ignored.)
I tomorrow you see can I
Yarın sen-i gör - ebil-ir - im. (ya*rın / se*ni / gö*re*bi*li*rim)
tomorrow you see can I (Read from right to left.)
İş-in-i yap - malı - /s/ın. (i*şi*ni / yap*ma*lı*sın)
your work do must you (Read from right to left.)
Contrary to the English verb phrases, Turkish verb phrases start with the
main verbs and the auxiliary allomorphs follow the main verbs in succession
attached to one another. The succession of a Turkish verb phrase is as fol-
lows:
Main verb- modal allomorph- time allomorph- subject allomorph
In place of the auxiliary verbs of the English language, there are different
auxiliary allomorphs carrying the same meaning of the morphemes in Turk-
ish. For instance, the corresponding present continuous suffix “ing” of the
English language is expressed in Turkish by the morpheme “iyor”, which has
four allomorphs “iyor, ıyor, üyor, uyor” produced by the sound system.
These allomorphs change following the last vowels of the main verbs,
such as:
Gel-iyor-um. Çalış-ıyor-um. Gül-üyor-um. Otur-uyor-um.
TURKISH PHONEMES and LETTERS
Turkish has 29 letters in its alphabet that represent the phonemes. Some of
these letters / o, u, a, ı / and / ö, ü, e, i / are vowels (ünlüler), and the others
/ b, c, ç, d, f, g, ğ, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, ş, t, v, y, z / are consonants
(ünsüzler).
All the letters above represent phonemes, that is why they are shown be-
tween “/ /” signs. Phonemics is not interested in detailed phonetic differ-
ences. Some of the vowels / ı, ö, ü / do not exist in English. They are pro-

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nounced: /ı/ as in English “again”; /ö/ as in German “schön”; and /ü/ as in
German “hütte” respectively.
Among the consonants, there are the / ç, ş, ğ / phonemes, which are pro-
nounced as “ch” as in “church”, “sh” as in “fish”; and to produce the /ğ/
phoneme, which does not exist in English, first produce /g/ phoneme, and
make it longer by letting your breath pass between your tongue and the hard
palate of your mouth while vibrating your vocal cords.
TURKISH VOWEL AND CONSONANT HARMONY
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
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.
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” are 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”

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As one could see, the two diagrams above 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)
One could make up Turkish meaningless vowel chains as many as one
wishes using the vowel chains above. I advise those who are interested in
learning Turkish to make up meaningless vowel chains like the chains
above, and repeat them loudly again and again. When they do so, they can
memorize the Turkish vowel harmony sequences easily and soundly as they
learn a piece of music. When they repeat them, they may even feel and
sound as if they were speaking Turkish.
As it has already been stated, borrowed words do not follow the vowel
harmony sequences, but the last syllables of such words attach to suffixes
in accordance with the vowel and consonant harmony rules:
patates-ler-i (pa*ta*tes*le*ri) “the potatoes”; televizyon-u
(te*le*viz*yo*nu) “the television”; mandalina-/y/ı (man*da*li*
na*yı) “the tangerine”; sigara-/y/ı (si*ga*ra*yı) “the cigarette”.
The “s/, /ş/, /n/, /y/” consonants used above are glides (semivowels) inserted
between consonants or vowels to help them pass the voice from one
consonant or vowel to the following ones smoothly and harmoniously. They
do not carry meaning.
One more thing to add to the explanation above is that the words that are
formed of two separate words do not follow the above vowel harmony
sequences. For instance:
kahverengi (kahve + rengi) “brown”; buzdolabı (buz + dolabı) “refri-
gerator”; bilgisayar (bilgi + sayar) “computer”; tavanarası (tavan + arası)
“attic”.

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Besides the vowel harmony rules above, there are three more essential
vowel rules to consider:
1. The verbs ending with vowels drop these vowels when they attach to
the allomorphs of [İYOR]. These vowels are double underlined. Besides the
double underlined vowels, there are some consonants that are single un-
derlined which show that they detach from their syllables and attach to the
first vowels of the following allomorphs to produce new syllables. In Turkish,
morphemic sequences, which are loaded with meaning, are transformed into
different syllables and phonemes by the Turkish sound system to be
produced by the speech organs easily and harmoniously. In the following
examples, the morphemic sequences of some verbal phrases are given first,
and then their forms are separated into syllables by asterisks given between
parentheses:
Bekle-iyor → (bek*li*yor); başla-ıyor → (baş*lı*yor); anla-ıyor → (an*lı*yor);
gizle-iyor → (giz*li*yor); oku-uyor → (o*ku*yor); atla-ıyor → (at*lı*yor)
ye-iyor → (yi*yor); gözle-üyor → (göz*lü*yor); gizle-iyor → (giz*li*yor)
Gel-iyor-um → (ge*li*yo*rum); yüz-üyor-uz → (yü*zü*yo*ruz); iç-er-im →
(i*çe*rim); yaz-acak-ım → (ya*za*ca*ğım); yakalan-acak-ız → (ya*ka*la*-
na*ca*ğız); gül-er-im → (gü*le*rim); kork-ar-ız → (kor*ka*rız)
2. When the last syllables of the nouns (including the infinitives), the verbs,
and the inflectional morphemes end with vowels, and the first vowels of the
following allomorphs start with the same vowels, these two vowels combine
and verbalize as single vowels. For example, when the last vowel of the
word “anne” and the first vowel of the allomorph “em” happen to be
articulated together, they combine and verbalize as a single vowel: “anne-
em” → (an*nem). For instance:
anne-en  (an*nen); tarla-am  (tar*lam); araba-anız  (a*ra*ba*nız);
kafa-an  (ka*fan); git-ti-in  (git*tin); bekle-di-ik  (bek*le*dik); gül-dü-
ük  (gül*dük); yakala-dı-ım  (ya*ka*la*dım); git-me-em  (git*mem);
çalış-ma-am  (ça*lış*mam); temizle-en-mek  (te*miz*len*mek); Dinle-er
mi-sin?  (din*ler / mi*sin); ol-sa-am  (ol*sam), bil-se-em (bil*sem)
If the last vowel of a word and the first vowel of an allomorph happen to be
different, these two vowels are generally linked by the /y/ glides:
oku-ma-/y/ız  (o*ku*ma*yız); gel-me-/y/iz  (gel*me*yiz); tava-/y/ı →
(ta*va*yı), salata-/y/ı (sa*la*ta*yı), uyku-/y/a → (uy*ku*ya).

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TURKISH CONSONANT HARMONY SEQUENCE
Consonants are grouped under two subdivisions:
voiced consonants: / b, c, d, g, ğ, j, y, l, m, n, r, v, z /
unvoiced consonants: / ç, f, k, p, s, ş, t /
The voiced consonants are the phonemes that are produced by vibrating
the vocal cords while the breath is passing through the throat. To under-
stand the voiced and unvoiced difference, first produce the /v/ phoneme,
which vibrates the vocal cords in your throat, and then, without changing the
position of your teeth and lips, produce the same sound without vibrating the
vocal cords to produce the unvoiced /f/ phoneme? When you do this, you
feel no vibration in your throat. The consonants that vibrate the vocal cords
are named voiced consonants; the consonants that do not vibrate them
are called unvoiced consonants. By the way, one should keep in mind that
all vowels and voiced consonants vibrate the vocal cords. The vowels
and the voiced consonants, which vibrate the vocal cords, are both called
vocals. Only the unvoiced consonants do not vibrate them. In Turkish, the
voiced consonants are called "yumuşak (sedalı) ünsüzler", and the
unvoiced consonants are called "sert ünsüzler".
The /p/, /ç/, /k/, /t/ unvoiced consonants change into their voiced counter-
parts /b/, /c/, /ğ/, /d/ when they detach from their syllables and attach to the
first vowels of the [i, ı, ü, u], or [e, a] allomorphs:
/p/ changes into /b/: kitap-ı, kitap-a (ki*ta*bı, ki*ta*ba), sebep-i, sebep-e
(se*be*bi, se*be*be), kebap-ı, kebap-a (ke*ba*bı, ke*ba*ba), çorap-ı,
çorap-a (ço*ra*bı, ço*ra*ba), dolap-ı (do*la*bı, do*la*ba), şarap-ı, şarap-a
(şa*ra*bı, şa*ra*ba), hesap-ı, hesap-a (he*sa:*bı, he*sa:*ba).
/ç/ changes into /c/: ağaç-ı, ağaç-a (a*ğa*cı, a*ğa*ca), sayaç-ı, sayaç-a
(sa*ya*cı, sa*ya*ca), amaç-ı, amaç-a (a*ma*cı, a*ma*ca), ayraç-ı, ayraç-a
(ay*ra*cı, ay*ra*ca), demeç-i, demeç-e (de*me*ci, de*me*ce).
/k/ changes into /ğ/: sokak-ı, sokak-a (so*ka*ğı, so*ka*ğa), tabak-ı, tabak-a
(ta*ba*ğı, ta*ba*ğa), kürek-i, kürek-e (kü*re*ği, kü*re*ğe), bebek-i, bebek-e
(be*be*ği, be*be*ğe), köpek-i, köpek-e (kö*pe*ği, kö*pe*ğe), ayak-ı, ayak-a
(a*ya*ğı, a*ya*ğa), bardak-ı, bardak-a (bar*da*ğı, bar*da*ğa).
/t/ changes into /d/: adet-i, adet-e (a*de*di, a*de*de), kanat-ı, kanat-a (ka*-
na*dı, ka*na*da), umut-u, umut-a (u*mu:*du, u*mu:*da), yoğurt-u, yoğurt-a

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(yo*ğur*du, yo*ğur*da). As an exception: sepet-i, sepet-e (se*pe*ti, se*pe*-
te), nöbet-i, nöbet-e (nö*be*ti, nö*be*te).
When the nouns or pronouns ending with /p, t, k, ç/ consonants detach from
their syllables and attach to the first vowels of the [in, ın, ün, un] allomorphs,
their last consonants /p, t, k, ç/ change into their voiced counterparts
/b, d, ğ, c/ respectively.
kitap-ın (ki*ta*bın), sebep-in (se*be*bin), kebap-ın (ke*ba*bın), çorap-ın
(ço*ra*bın), ağaç-ın (a*ğa*cın), amaç-ın (a*ma*cın), sokak-ın (so*ka*ğın),
kürek-in (kü*re*ğin), bebek-in (be*be*ğin), ayak-ın (a*ya*ğın), kanat-ın
(ka*na*dın), yoğurt-un (yo*ğur*dun).
Some /t/ phonemes, however, do not change:
hayat (ha*ya:*tı), (ha*ya:*ta), (ha*ya:*tın); sanat (san*a*tı), (san*a*ta),
(san*a*tın); sıfat (sı*fa*tı), (sı*fa*ta), (sı*fa*tın); saat (sa*a*ti), (sa*a*te),
sa*a*tin); sepet (se*pe*ti), (se*pe*te), (se*pe*tin); gölet (gö*le*ti),
(gö*le*te), (gö*le*tin); demet (de*me*ti), (de*me*te), (de*me*tin).
The monosyllabic noun roots ending with unvoiced consonants do not
change when they get the [İ], [E], [DE], [DEN] and the possessive personal
allomorphs:
ek (eki, eke, ekte, ekten, ekin); sap (sapı, sapa, sapta, saptan, sapın); ip
(ipi, ipe, ipte, ipten, ipin); hap (hapı, hapa, hapta, haptan, hapın); tüp (tüpü,
tüpe, tüpte, tüpten, tüpün); top (topu, topa, topta, toptan, topun); saç (saçı,
saça, saçta, şaçtan, saçın); iç (içi, içe, içte, içten, için); göç (göçü, göçe,
göçte, göçten, göçün); maç (maçı, maça, maçta, maçtan, maçın); kök
(kökü, köke, kökte, kökten, kökün); ok (oku, oka, okta, oktan, okun ), yük
(yükü, yüke, yükte, yükten, yükün); kürk (kürkü, kürke, kürkte, kürkün); Türk
(Türk’ü, Türk’e, Türk’te, Türk’ten, Türk’ün); at (atı, ata, atta, attan, atın); et
(eti, ete, ette, etten, etin); süt (sütü, süte, sütte, sütten, sütün); ot (otu, ota,
otta, ottan, otun); kart (kartı, karta, kartta, karttan, kartın).
However, the final consonants of some monosyllabic nouns do change
when they are attached only to [i, ı, ü, u], [e, a] and [in, ın, ün, un] allo-
morphs. They do not change when they are attached to the allomorphs of
the morphemes of [DE] and [DEN]:
but (bu*du), (bu*da), (bu*dun), (but-ta, but-tan); dip (di*bi), (di*be), (di*bin),
(dip*te), (dip*ten); çok (çoğu, çoğa, çoğun, çokta, çoktan); gök (göğü,
göğe, göğün, gökte, gökten); kap (kabı, kaba, kabın, kapta, kaptan); uç

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(ucu, uca, ucun, uçta, uçtan); yurt (yurdu, yurda, yurdun, yurtta, yurttan);
kurt (kurdu, kurda, kurdun, kurtta, kurttan); tat (tadı, tada, tadın, tatta,
tattan).
When [İ] or [E] morphemes come after the nouns ending with vowels, the /y/
linking semivowels (glides) are inserted between these two vowels to pro-
vide harmonious links:
Testi (tes*ti*/y/i, tes*ti*/y/e); araba (a*ra*ba*/y/ı, a*ra*ba*/y/a); tarla (tar*-
la*/y/ı, tar*la*/y/a); salata (sa*la*ta*/y/ı, sa*la*ta*/y/a); martı (mar*tı*/y/ı,
mar*tı*/y/a); tava (ta*va*/y/ı, ta*va*/y/a); teneke (te*ne*ke*/y/i, te*ne*ke-
*/y/e); makara (ma*ka*ra*/y/ı, ma*ka*ra*/y/a); kundura (kun*du*ra*/y/ı,
kun*du*ra*/y/a); kafa (ka*fa*/y/ı, ka*fa*/y/a); su (su*/y/u, su*/y/a).
When the nouns ending with vowels are attached to the possessive per-
sonal allomorphs of [İN], ♫ [in, ın, ün, un], which are used in the “pos-
sessive” parts of the noun compounds, the /n/ glides are inserted between
the two vowels, such as:
araba-/n/ın ⟶ (a*ra*ba*nın)
testi-/n/in ⟶ (tes*ti*nin)
ordu-/n/un ⟶ (or*du*nun)
öykü-/n/ün ⟶ (öy*kü*nün)
sergi-/n/in ⟶ (ser*gi*nin)
kafa-/n/ın ⟶ (ka*fa*nın)
makara-/n/ın ⟶ (ma*ka*ra*nın)
The syllables written in bold face above are stressed.
However, when pronouns are used in the possessive position, they are
surffixed by the possessive [im, in, un, im, in, ın] allomorphs:
ben-im (be*nim) my, sen-in (se*nin) your, o/n/-un (o*nun) his, her, its,
biz-im (bi*zim) our, siz-in (si*zin) your, o/n/-lar-ın (on*la*rın) their.
Note: The single underlined consonants in the examples above show the
consonants that detach from their syllables, and attach to the first vowels of
the following allomorphs to change the morphemes into syllables.
Exception su (su*/y/un). Example: (a*ra*ba*nın / hı*zı), (su*yun / hı*zı)

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ENGLISH AND TURKISH SENTENCES
In English and Turkish, tenses generally carry the same meanings, but the
structure of their verb phrases is reverse. In English, a sentence starts with a
pronoun or a noun which is followed by a main verb. If the main verb is
transitive, an object follows it. However, a Turkish sentence is in reverse
order. As it has been explained before, there may be two subjects in a
Turkish sentence; an optional pronoun in the beginning of a sentence and a
subject allomorph carrying the same meaning at the end. As a subject
allomorph is enough to express the pronoun, this pronoun is not used if it is
not thought to be important. Therefore, we will not use the pronouns in our
example sentences unless they are emphasized. For instance:
Her hafta araba-am-ı yıka-ar-ım. (“Ar” is the time allomorph.)
every week my car wash I (Read the English sentence from right to left.)
The Turkish sentence above contains morphemes and allomorphs, which
carry meaning. This sentence is a raw sentence because it has not been
transposed into an oral sequence by the Turkish sound system yet. Now, let
us see how this raw sequence is transformed into an oral sequence to be
uttered by the speech organs.
All free morphemes have their own syllables separated by the sound
system. For instance, in the example sentence above, the word “her” has a
single syllable, but “haf*ta” has two syllables, which have already been
arranged by the Turkish sound system. However, in the word “araba-am-ı”,
there are two identical “a-a” vowels, which should be combined by the sound
system to be uttered as a single vowel “a”. In Turkish verb phrases, “a-a”,
“e-e”, “i-i”, “ı-ı”, “u-u”, “ü-ü” identical vowels always combine and verbalize
as single vowels as “a”, “e”, “i”, “ı”, “u”, “ü” to be uttered by the speech
organs fluently.
In the same word “araba-am-ı”, the consonant “m” is single underlined. This
single underlined consonant detaches from its allomorph and attaches to
the following vowel in accordance with the sound system, and our raw word
“araba-am-ı” turns into (a*ra*ba*mı) oral sequence. All the single underlined
consonants in this article detach from their morphemes and attach to the
following vowels. Such underlines are not showed in normal writing.
In the word “yıka-ar-ım”, there are also two “a-a” identical vowels that have
to be combined, and there is a single underlined “r” phoneme that has to be
detached from its morpheme and attached to the following vowel “ı”.
Consequently, our raw sentence above changes into an oral sequence as
follows:
Her hafta araba-am-ı yıka-ar-ım. (her / haf*ta / a*ra*ba*mı / yı*ka*rım)

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In the oral sentence above, the “/” slash marks separate words, and the
asterisks “*” separate syllables. The syllables written in bold face indicate
the stressed syllables in speech.
The sound system of a language transposes the morphemic sequences into
oral sequences to produce proper sequences to be used by the speech
organs. As soon as we hear these transposed sequences, we realize the
morphemic sequences. How then do we understand the morphemes when
we hear an oral utterance? We understand it because the morphemes and
allomorphs are heard in vocalized utterances together although their
structures are transposed into a different mode. In other words, when we
hear the transposed vocalized sequences, we simultaneously realize the un-
derlying morphemes. The morphemes and the sound system of a language
work together interactively to produce oral sentences.
Morphemes and their allomorphs are basic elements of languages because
the aim of a language activity is to transfer these meaningful elements to
other people with our speech organs so that they may be able to hear them
through their ears. Although morphemes have meanings by themselves, the
syllables do not have meaning on their own.
The following example sentences contain three different lines. The first line
is a sentence made up of only morphemes following each other. These
morphemes cannot be articulated unless they are transposed by the Turkish
sound system. The Turkish sound system transposes the morphemic se-
quence in such a way that the morphemes may be easily articulated by the
speech organs of a person and heard through his ears. Therefore, we can
name the first line as a raw sentence line.
The second line between parentheses is a line transposed by the sound sys-
tem. In this line, the morphemes are transformed into pronounceable syl-
lables separated by the star symbols “*” to be uttered by the speech or-
gans. In this line, you can also see the consonants that detach from their
syllables and attach to the following vowels, which are single underlined in
the raw sentence line. The line under the verbalized line shows the English
equivalent of the Turkish line.
1. You can see some single underlined consonants “m” which indicate that
they should be detached from their syllables and attached to the following
vowels.
2. The double underlined black vowels “e” indicate that these vowels drop
and overlooked by the Turkish sound system.
3. The identical vowels following each other “a-a”, “e-e”, “i-i”, “ı-ı”, “ü-ü”
combine and verbalize as single vowels, such as “a”, “e”, “i”, “ı”, “ü”.

13
Linking verbs are the verbs that carry information about the subjects
describing who, what, how, and where the subject is, was, can be, etc.
The following are all linking verbs: is, are, was, were, has been, have
been, will be, had been, must be, may be, etc. The information that the
linking verbs carry to the subjects are called “subject complements”.
Present positive:
The compulsory subject allomorphs used with present “be” are as follows:
(ben): [im, ım, üm, um]; (sen): [/s/in, /s/ın, /s/ün, /s/un]; (o): [ø]; (biz):
[iz, ız, üz, uz]; (siz): [/s/iniz, /s/ınız, /s/ünüz, /s/unuz]; (onlar): [(ø) or (ler,
lar)]
The subject complements that give information about the subjects may be
“nouns”, “pronouns”, “adjectives” or “prepositional phrases”. They are
all brown underlined to show that they are subject complements:
1. Noun: (Ben) öğretmen-im (öğ*ret*me*nim) I am a teacher. (Sen)
doktor-/s/un (dok*tor*sun) You are a doctor. O bir doktor (dok*tor).
She is a doctor. Biz doktor-uz (dok*to*ruz) We are doctors. Siz bir
öğretmen-/s/iniz (siz / bir / öğ*ret*men*si*niz) You are a teacher.
Onlar asker (on*lar / as*ker) They are soldiers.
(No time allomorphs are used when the linking verbs are present in
Turkish.)
2. Adjective: (Ben) tembel-im (tem*be*lim) I am lazy. (Sen) çalışkan-
/s/ın (ça*lış*kan*sın) You are hardworking. O mutlu(dur) (o / mut*lu).
She is happy. Biz iyi-/y/iz (biz / i*yi*yiz) We are all right. Yorgun-
/s/unuz (yor*gun*su*nuz) You are tired. Onlar isteksiz. (on*lar /
is*tek*siz) They are unwilling.
3. Postpositional phrases: The Turkish allomorphs that state place [de,
da, te, ta] are expressed in English in the prepositions of “in”, “at”,
“on”, “in front of”, “behind”, “under”, “next to”, such as:
ev-de (at home); okul-da (at school, in school); masa-da (on the
table, at the table); kapı-da (at the door); kutu-da (in the box); bahçe-
de (in the garden); hastane-de (in hospital, in the hospital); uçak-ta
(on the plane), kapı-/n/ın ön-ü/n/-de (in front of the door).

14
The other [e, a] and [den, dan, ten, tan] allomorphs, which turn nouns into
adverbials, are not used with the linking verbs “be”; they are used
together with action verbs like “go”, “come”, “wait“, “sleep”, “jump”, etc.
When the subject complements above end with vowels, they are linked to
the subject allomorphs by the /y/ glides:
Postacı kapı-da. The postman is at the door. Onlar şimdi uçak-ta. They
are on the plane now. Ben kapı-da-/y/ım. I am at the door. Sen okul-da-
/s/ın. You are at school. O mutfak-ta. She is in the kitchen. Biz haklı-/y/ız.
We are right. Çiçek-ler vazo-da. The flowers are in the vase.
The [E], [DE] and [DEN] Turkish morphemes are also used attached to “ön”,
“arka”, “yan”, “üst”, “karşı”, “sol”, “sağ”, “alt”, “bitişik” nouns, such as “ön-e”,
“arka-/y/a”, “yan-a”, “üst-e”, “karşı-/y/a”, “yukarı-/y/a”, “ön-de”, “arka-da”,
“yan-da”, “alt-ta”, “üst-te”, “karşı-da”, “sağ-da”, “sol-da”, “bitişik-te”, “ön-den”,
“arka-dan”, “yan-dan”, “üst-ten”, “karşı-dan”, “sağ-dan”, “yakın-dan”.
These words are all nouns when they are without suffixes; if they were not,
the [E], [DE] and [DEN] morphemes would not be attached to them. When
they are together with these suffixes, they function either as adverbials, or
when the [de, da, te, ta] allomorphs are used with the verbs “be” they are
used as subject complements in sentences.
Consequently, as these words are all nouns, they are also used in noun
compounds like the simple noun compounds such as “oda-/n/ın kapı-/s/ı”;
“perde-/n/in arka-/s/ı”; “ayna-/n/ın ön-ü”; “vazo-/n/un yan-ı”; “yatak-ın alt-ı”
(ya*ta*ğın / al*tı); “bakkal-ın bitişik-i” (bak*ka*lın / bi*ti*şi*ği); “koltuk-un
sağ-ı” (kol*tu*ğun / sa*ğı); “bakkal-ın karşı-/s/ı”; “ev-in arka-/s/ı”.
When the [de, da] allomorphs are attached to the noun compounds above,
they take the /n/ glides attached to the noun compounds to maintain a har-
monious link between the noun compounds and the [de, da] allomorphs.
The noun compounds attached to the [de, da] allomorphs function as
subject complements when “be” verbs are used. Compare and consider the
following sentences:
Kedi perde-/n/in arka-/s/ı/n/-da. (The brown underlines show the subj complements.)
subj noun compound - /n/da
(subj complement) predicate
(ke*di / per*de*nin / ar*ka*sın*da ↷).
The cat is behind the curtain. (The blue underlined parts are subjects.)

15
Gözlükler-im ayna-/n/ın ön-ü/n/-de.
(göz*lük*le*rim / ay*na*nın / ö*nün*de ↷)
My glasses are in front of the mirror. (The “im, ım, üm, um, em, am”
Turkish possessive personal allomorphs all mean “ben-im”: “my”.)
Terlikler-in karyola-/n/ın alt-ı/n/-da.
(ter*lik*le*rin / kar*yo*la*nın / al*tın*da ↷)
Your slippers are under the bed. (The “in, ın, ün, un, en, an” allomorphs
mean “sen-in”: “your”.)
Ben-im ev-im bakkal-ın bitişik-i/n/-de. (bak*ka*lın / bi*ti*şi*ği)
(be*nim / e*vim / bak*ka*lın / bi*ti*şi*ğin*de ↷)
My house is next to the grocer.
Sen-in dükkân-ın bakkal-ın karşı-/s/ı/n/-da. (bak*ka*lın / kar*şı*sı)
(se*nin / dük*kâ*nın / bak*ka*lın / kar*şı*sın*da ↷)
Your shop is opposite (to) the grocer.
İstasyon sol-da.
(is*tas*yon / sol*da ↷)
The station is on the left.
İstasyon bakkal-ın sol-u/n/-da. (bak*ka*lın / so*lu)
(is*tas*yon / bak*ka*lın / so*lun*da ↷)
The station is on the left of the grocer.
Karı-ım ev-de.
(ka*rım / ev*de ↷)
My wife is at home.
Postane-/n/in ön-ü/n/-de-/y/im. (The “im” means “ben”: “I”.)
(ben / pos*ta:*ne*nin / ö*nün*de*yim ↷)
I am in front of the post office.
In the sentences above, there are no time morphemes attached to the
words “arka-sın-da”, “ön-ün-de”, “karşı-sın-da”, “ev-de”, etc. The absence of
these time morphemes in the sentences above (“∅” zero morphemes) imply
that the time is present.
Present negative:
To change the positive “be” linking verbs into negative forms, the negative
making adverb “değil” is used after a subject complement, such as:

16
Mutlu değil-im.
(mut*lu / de*ği*lim)
I am not happy.
İstekli değil-/s/iniz. (is*tek*li / de*ğil*si*niz)
You are not willing. (The “/s/iniz, /s/ınız, /s/ünüz, /s/unuz” subject
allomorphs all mean plural “siz”: “you”.)
Yakışıklı değil-/s/in. (The “/s/in, /s/ın, /s/ün, /s/un” subject allomorphs all
mean singular “sen”: “you”)
/ya*kı*şık*lı / de*ğil*sin)
You are not handsome.
Ev-de değil-ler. (The “ler, lar” subject allomorphs mean “onlar”; “they”.)
(ev*de / de*ğil*ler)
They are not at home.
Baba-am ev-de değil.
(ba*bam / ev*de / de*ğil)
My father is not at home.
Present positive question:
To turn the positive linking verbs into the positive question forms, the [mi,
mı] interrogative allomorphs are attached to the subject allomorphs, which
are used followed by the subject complements:
Deli mi-/y/im?
(de*li / mi*yim)
Am I crazy?
Ev-de mi-/s/in?
(ev*de / mi*sin)
Are you at home?
Fatma-/n/ın göz-ler-i mavi mi?
(fat*ma*nın / göz*le*ri / ma*vi / mi)
Are Fatma’s eyes blue?
Dikkatsiz mi-/y/iz? (The “/y/iz, /y/ız, /y/üz, /y/uz” subject allomorphs mean
“biz”: “we”.)
(dik*kat*siz / mi*yiz)
Are we careless?

17
Hazır mı-/s/ınız?
(ha*zır / mı*sı*nız)
Are you ready?
İyi-ler mi?
(i*yi*ler / mi)
Are they all right?
Present negative question:
To turn a positive linking verb form into a negative linking verb form, the
negative making adverb “değil” is used after a subject complement:
Çalışkan değil mi-/y/im?
(ça*lış*kan / de*ğil / mi*yim)
Am I not hardworking?
Sorumlu değil mi-/s/iniz?
(so*rum*lu / de*ğil / mi*si*niz)
Are you not responsible?
Anne-en ev-de değil mi?
(an*nen / ev*de / de*ğil / mi)
Isn’t your mother at home?
İsteksiz degil-ler mi?
(is*tek*siz / de*ğil*ler / mi)
Aren’t they unwilling?
Hazır değil mi-/y/iz?
(ha*zır / de*ğil / mi*yiz)
Aren’t we ready?
Güzel değil mi-/y/im?
(gü*zel / de*ğil / mi*yim)
Am I not beautiful?
The question words used with the Linking Verbs:
Nere-de-/s/iniz? Ev-de-/y/im.
(ne*re*de*si*niz)
Where are you? I am at home.
Nasıl-sınız? İyi-/y/im.
(na*sıl*sı*nız)
How are you? I am quite well.

18
Niçin hazır değil-/s/in?
(ni*çin / ha*zır / de*ğil*sin)
Why aren’t you ready?
Kim-/s/in? (Ben) Ahmet-im.
(kim*sin)
Who are you? I am Ahmet.
Nere-de-/y/iz? İstanbul-da-/y/ız.
(ne*re*de*yiz)
Where are we? We are in İstanbul.
English does not have enough suffixes or prefixes to turn some adjectives
into verbs. Therefore, this deficiency of the English language is fulfilled by
some linking verbs such as get, grow, look, turn, smell, sound, be-
come, which are followed by nouns or adjectives (subject complements).
As some Turkish adjectives can be turned into verbs by attaching some
suffixes to adjectives, some English linking verbs are not used in Turkish.
Therefore, verbs are used instead. In the following examples, you can see
how Turkish adjectives turn into verbs by attaching some suffixes to adjec-
tives:
Güzel → güzel-leş, yaşlı → yaş-lan, soguk → soğu, uzun → uza, kısa
→ kısal, yorgun → yorul, hazır → hazır-lan, sarı → sarar, sinirli →
sinir-len, sıcak → ısın, şüphe → şüphe-len, sakin → sakin-leş, kırmızı
→ kızar, güç → güç-leş, koku → kok, sarı → sarar.
Example sentences:
Herkes yaşlan-ır. (“Yaşlan” is an intransitive verb which means “grow old”.)
(her*kes / yaş*la*nır)
Everybody grows old. (“Grow” is a linking verb; “old” is a subj complement.)
Hava soğu-uyor. (“Soğu” is an intransitive verb which means “get cold”)
(ha*va / so*ğu*yor)
It is getting colder. (“Get” is a linking verb; “cold” is a subj complement.)
Yorgun görün-üyor-/s/un.
(yor*gun / gö*rü*nü*yor*sun)
You look tired.

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Yapraklar sonbahar-da sarar-ır. (“Sarar” means “turn yellow”.)
(yap*rak*lar / son*ba*har*da / sa*ra*rır)
Leaves turn yellow in the autumn.
Çorba nefis kok-uyor. (“Kok” is an intransitive verb; “nefis” is an adverb.)
(ço*ba / ne*fis / ko*ku*yor)
The soup smells delicious. (“Smell” is a linking verb; “delicious” is a subj compl.)
Öğrenciler sessiz kal-dı-lar. (“Kal” is an intransitive verb; “sessiz” is an adverb.)
(öğ*ren*ci*ler / ses*siz / kal*dı*lar)
The students remained silent. (“Remain” is a linking verb; “silent” is subj compl.)
Kendim-i iyi hisset-iyor-um. (“Hisset” is a transitive verb; “iyi” is an adverb.)
(ken*di*mi / i*yi / his*se*di*yo*rum)
I feel good. (“Feel” is a linking verb; “good” is a subject complement.)
Aptallık et-iyor-sun. (“Et” is a transitive verb; “aptallık” is its indefinite object.)
(ap*tal*lık / e*di*yor*sun)
You are being foolish. (“Are being” is a link verb; “foolish” is a subj compl.)
Üşü-dü/y/-se-en ceket-in-i giy. (“Üşü” is intransitive; it means “feel cold”)
(ü*şü*düy*sen / ce*ke*ti*ni / giy)
If you feel cold, put your coat on. (“Feel” is a linking verb; “cold” is a subj compl)
Fatma gün-den gün-e güzelleş-iyor. (“Güzelleş” means “get beautiful”.)
(fat*ma / gün*den / gü*ne / gü*zel*le*şi*yor)
Fatma is getting more beautiful day by day.
Bu yumurtalar pis kok-uyor. (“pis” is an adverb because “kok” is an action verb.)
(bu / yu*mur*ta*lar / pis / ko*ku*yor)
These eggs smell nasty.
Proje-en ilginç gör-ün-üyor. (“İlginç” is used as an adverb in Turkish.)
(pro*jen / il*ginç / gö*rü*nü*yor)
Your project seems (sounds) interesting.
Note: Nearly all adjectives in Turkish can be used as adverbs without
changing their forms. For instance:
O iyi bir kız-dır. (adjective) She is a good girl. (adjective)
O iyi yüz-er. (adverb) She swims well. (adverb)
Bu yavaş bir araba-dır. (adjective) This is a slow car. (adjective)
Bu araba yavaş gider. (adverb) This car goes slowly. (adverb)

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O güzel bir kız-dır. (adjective) She is a beautiful girl. (adjective)
O güzel şarkı söyler. (adverb) She sings beautifully. (adverb)
LINKING VERBS
Simple Past
The simple past tense time allomorphs of the verb “be” are [di, dı, dü, du, ti,
tı, tü, tu], which are attached to the subject allomorphs below:
(ben) [im, ım, üm, um], (sen) [in, ın, ün, un], (o) [∅], (biz) [ik, ık, ük, uk],
(siz) [iniz, ınız, ünüz, unuz], (onlar) [ler, lar]
Positive:
Ev-de/y/-di-im.
(ev*dey*dim)
I was at home.
Hazır-dı-ınız.
(ha*zır*dı*nız)
You were ready.
.
Mutlu/y/-du-uk.
(mut*luy*duk)
We were happy.
Sarhoş-tu-lar.
(sar*hoş*tu*lar)
They were drunk.
Öğrenciler neşeli/y/-di.
(öğ*ren*ci*ler / ne*şe*liy*di)
The students were cheerful.
Araba-am kapı-/n/ın ön-ü/n/-de/y/-di.
(a*ra*bam / ka*pı*nın / ö*nün*dey*di)
My car was in front of the door.
Negative:
To turn a positive linking verb into a negative statement, the negative
making adverb “değil” is used after the subject complement, which is
attached to past time and subject allomorphs:

21
Yorgun değil-di-im.
(yor*gun / de*ğil*dim)
I was not tired. (I wasn’t tired.)
Sorumlu değil-di-iniz.
(so*rum*lu / de*ğil*di*niz)
You were not responsible. (You weren’t responsible.)
Ev-de değil-ler-di.
(ev*de / de*ğil*ler*di)
They were not at home. (They weren’t at home.)
Meşgul değil-di-ik.
(meş*gul / de*ğil*dik)
We were not busy. (We weren’t busy.)
Positive question:
To turn a positive linking verb into a positive question form, one of the [mi,
mı, mü, mu] question allomorphs is attached to time and subject
allomorphs separately:
Dün okul-da mı/y/-dı-ın?
(dün / o*kul*da / mıy*dın)
Were you at school yesterday?
Miting kalabalık mı/y/-dı?
(mi*ting / ka*la*ba*lık / mıy*dı)
Was the meeting crowded?
Yorgun mu/y/-du-unuz?
(yor*gun / muy*du*nuz)
Were you tired?
Sorular zor mu/y/-du?
(so*ru*lar / zor / muy*du)
Were the questions difficult?
Negative question:
In negative question forms, the negative making adverb “değil” follows the
subject complement as they are in the following examples:

22
Dün okul-da değil mi/y/-di-in?
(dün / o*kul*da / de*ğil / miy*din)
Were you not at school yesterday? (Weren’t you at school?)
Masal ilginç değil mi/y/-di?
(ma*sal / il*ginç / de*ğil / miy*di)
Wasn’t the story interesting?
Öğrenciler öğren-mek için istekli değil mi/y/-di-ler?
(öğ*ren*ci*ler / öğ*ren*mek / i*çin / is*tek*li / de*ğil / miy*di*ler)
Weren’t the students eager to learn? (“To learn” is an adverbial infinitive.)
Hazır değil mi/y/-di-iniz?
(ha*zır / de*ğil / miy*di*niz)
Were’t you ready?
Have been, has been, had been, will be
Kız kardeş-im on yıl-dır öğretmen.
(kız / kar*de*şim / on / yıl*dır / öğ*ret*men)
My sister has been a teacher for ten years.
Hava üç gün-dür çok soğuk.
(ha*va / üç / gün*dür / çok / so*ğuk)
It has been very cold for three days.
Oğul-um yakında doctor ol-acak.
(oğ*lum / ya*kın*da / dok*tor / o*la*cak)
My son will be a doctor soon.
Modal verbs with linking verbs:
Modal verbs can be used both with action verbs and liking verbs in English
and Turkish. We will show only the modal verbs that are used with linking
verbs in the following example sentences.
Present Modals
Positive:
ol-[abil-ir]-[subject allomorph] = “can be” or “may be” (Possibility)
Turkish modal verbs are used followed by subject complements:
(adjectives, nouns or prepositional phrases) attached by one of the sub-

23
ject allomorphs: (ben) [im], (sen) [/s/in], (o) [∅], (biz) [iz], (siz) [/s/iniz],
[onlar) [ler]
Yorgun ol-abil-ir-im.
(yor*gun / o*la*bi*li*rim)
I may be tired.
Sorumlu ol-abil-ir-/s/in.
(so*rum*lu / o*la*bi*lir*sin)
You may be responsible.
Jack bahçe-de ol-abil-ir.
(jack / bah*çe*de / o*la*bi*lir)
Jack may be in the garden.
Meşgul ol-abil-ir-iz.
(meş*gul / o*la*bi*li*riz)
We may be busy.
İsteksiz ol-abil-ir-/s/iniz.
(is*tek*siz / o*la*bi*lir*si*niz)
You may be unwilling.
Turist ol-abil-ir-ler.
(tu*rist / o*la*bi*lir*ler)
They may be tourists.
Negative:
ol-ma-/y/abil-ir-[subject allomorph] = may not be (Negative possibility)
Ev-de ol-ma-/y/abil-ir-im.
(ev*de / ol*ma*ya*bi*li*rim)
I may not be at home.
Mutlu ol-ma-/y/abil-ir-/s/in.
(mut*lu / ol*ma*ya*bi*lir*sin)
You may not be happy.
Ankara-da hava güneşli ol-ma-/y/abil-ir.
(an*ka*ra*da / ha*va / gü*neş*li / ol*ma*ya*bi*lir)
The weather may not be sunny in Ankara.

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Okul-un ön-ü/n/-de ol-ma-/y/abil-ir-iz.
(o*ku*lun / ö*nün*de / ol*ma*ya*bi*li*riz)
We may not be in front of the school.
Haklı ol-ma-/y/abil-ir-/s/iniz.
(hak*lı / ol*ma*ya*bi*lir*si*niz)
You may not be right.
Hoşlanmış ol-ma-/y/abil-ir-ler.
(hoş*lan*mış / ol*ma*ya*bi*lir*ler)
They may not be pleased.
Positive question:
“Can” is used in question forms in English in place of “may”:
Başarılı ol-abil-ir mi-/y/im?
(ba*şa*rı*lı / o*la*bi*lir / mi*yim)
Can I be successful?
Yarın büro-um-da ol-abil-ir mi-/s/in?
(ya*rın / bü*rom*da / o*la*bi*lir / mi*sin)
Can you be in my office tomorrow?
Anne-en öfkeli ol-abil-ir mi?
(an*nen / öf*ke*li / o*la*bi*lir / mi)
Can your mother be angry?
Saat beş-te hazır ol-abil-ir mi-/y/iz?
(sa*at / beş*te / ha*zır / o*la*bi*lir / mi*yiz)
Can we be ready at five?
Dikkatli ol-abil-ir mi-/s/iniz?
(dik*kat*li / o*la*bi*lir / mi*si*niz)
Can you be careful?
Birazdan hazır ol-abil-ir-ler mi?
(bi*raz*dan / ha*zır / o*la*bi*lir*ler / mi)
Can they be ready soon?
Negative question:
To turn the “ol-abil-r” modal form into negative, “ol-amaz” modal
form is used:

25
Haklı ol-amaz mı-/y/ım?
(hak*lı / o*la*maz / mı*yım)
Can’t I be right?
Dürüst ol-amaz mı-/s/ın?
(dü*rust / o*la*maz / mı*sın)
Can’t you be honest?
Jack futbol oyna-uyor ol-amaz mı?
(jack / fut*bol / oy*nu*yor / o*la*maz / mı)
Can’t Jack be play-ing football?
Suçsuz ol-amaz mı-/y/ız?
(suç*suz / o*la*maz / mı*yız)
Can’t we be innocent?
Dikkatli ol-amaz mı-/s/ınız?
(dik*kat*li / o*la*maz / mı*sı*nız)
Can’t you be careful?
Sabırlı ol-amaz-lar mı?
(sa*bır*lı / o*la*maz*lar / mı)
Can’t they be patient?
Ol-malı = must be
Positive:
To arrange a “must be” model form in Turkish, a “subject complement +
ol-malı-[subject allomorph]” verb phrase should be used, which expresses
either certainty or necessity or both. Here are some example sentences:
Hazır ol-malı-/s/ın. (Certainty or necessity)
(ha*zır / ol*ma*lı*sın)
You must be ready. (Certainty or necessity)
The Turkish and English sentences above are ambiguous because they may
both mean “I am certain that you are ready” or “It is necessary for you to be
ready”.
O-/n/a inan-dık-ım için aptal ol-malı-/y/ım.
(o*na / i*nan*dı*ğım / i*çin / ap*tal / ol*ma*lı*yım)
I must be stupid to believe him. (I am sure that I am stupid.) (Certainty)

26
Sinirli ol-malı-/s/ın.
(si*nir*li / ol*ma*lı*sın)
You must be nervous. (I am sure that you are nervous.) (Certainty)
Baba-an dahi ol-malı.
(ba*ban / da*hi / ol*ma*lı)
Your father must be genius. (I am sure your father is genius.) (Certainty)
Dikkatli ol-malı-/y/ız.
(dik*kat*li / ol*ma*lı*yız)
We must be careful. (It is necessary for us to be careful.) (Necessity)
Cesur ol-malı-/s/ınız.
(ce*sur / ol*ma*lı*sı*nız)
You must be brave. (I am sure you are brave, or I want you to be brave.)
Sabırsız ol-malı-lar.
(sa*bır*sız / ol*ma*lı*lar)
They must be impatient. (I am sure that they are impatient.) (Certainty)
Negative:
In the negative form, the negative making allomorph [ma] attaches to the
verb “ol”:
Sabırsız ol-ma-malı-/y/ım.
(sa*bır*sız / ol*ma*ma*lı*yım)
I mustn’t be impatient. (Necessity)
Üzgün ol-ma-malı-/s/ın. (I want you not to be sorry.) (Necessity)
(üz*gün / ol*ma*ma*lı*sın)
You mustn’t be sorry.
Üzül-me-meli-/s/in. (I advise you not to be sorry.) (Necessity)
(ü*zül*me*me*li*sin)
You mustn’t feel sad.
Tertipsiz ol-ma-malı. (Necessity)
(ter*tip*siz / ol*ma*ma*lı)
He mustn’t be untidy.
Dikkatsiz ol-ma-malı-/y/ız. (Necessity)
(dik*kat*siz / ol*ma*ma*lı*yız)
We mustn’t be careless.

27
Kayıtsız ol-ma-malı-/s/ınız. (Necessity)
(ka*yıt*sız / ol*ma*ma*lı*sı*nız)
You mustn’t be indifferent.
Geç kal-ma-malı-lar. (Necessity)
(geç / kal*ma*ma*lı*lar)
They mustn’t be late.
Positive question:
In question forms, the [mı] interrogative allomorph attaches to the subject
allomorphs, and they follow the [ol-malı] verb together as a separate word:
Hazır ol-malı mı-/y/ım? (Is it necessary?)
(ha*zır / ol*ma*lı / mı*yım)
Must I be ready?
Sabah-leyin okul-da ol-malı mı-/s/ın? (Is it necessary?)
(sa*bah*le*yin / o*kul*da / ol*ma*lı / mı*sın)
Must you be at school in the morning?
Balıklar kızarmış mı ol-malı? (Is it necessary?)
(ba*lık*lar / kı*zar*mış / mı / ol*ma*lı)
Must the fish be fried?
Sabırlı mı ol-malı-/y/ız? (Is it necessary?)
(sa*bır*lı / mı / ol*ma*lı*yız)
Must we be patient?
Kuşkulu ol-malı mı-/s/ınız? (Is it necessary?)
(kuş*ku*lu / ol*ma*lı / mı*sı*nız)
Must you be doubtful?
Uçak-ta ol-malı-lar mı? (Is it necessary?)
(u*çak*ta / ol*ma*lı*lar / mı)
Must they be on the plane?
Interrogative words used with linking verbs:
Question words can be put in the beginning of all interrogative sentences
using linking verbs in Turkish and English. Additionally, the modal verbs
change their places and they are put before the subjects in English. In
Turkish, the rest of the sentences are either in positive or negative form as
they are in the example sentences below:

28
Ne zaman hazır ol-malı-/y/ız?
(ne / za*man / ha*zır / ol*ma*lı*yız)
When must we be ready?
Nerede ol-malı-lar?
(ne*re*de / ol*ma*lı*lar)
Where must they be?
ol-ama(z) = can’t be (Impossibility)
With the first person singular “ben” and with the first person plural “biz”, the
“eme, ama” allomorphs are used, but with the rest of the pronouns and in in-
terrogative sentences the “emez, amaz” allomorphs are used. For instance:
(ben) ol-ama-am (o*la*mam), (sen) ol-amaz-/s/ın (o*la*maz*sın), (o) ol-
amaz (o*la*maz), (biz) ol-ama-/y/ız (o*la*ma*yız), (siz) ol-amaz-/s/ınız
(o*la*maz*sı*nız), (onlar) ol-amaz-lar (o*la*maz*lar).
Sen-siz ol-ama-am.
(sen*siz / o*la*mam)
I can’t be without you.
Ciddi ol-amaz-/s/ın; şaka yap-ıyor ol-malı-/s/ın.
(cid*di / o*la*maz*sın↷ / şa*ka / ya*pı*yor / ol*ma*lı*sın↷)
You can’t be serious; you must be jokeing.
Jack ders çalış-ıyor ol-amaz; futbol oyna-uyor ol-malı.
(jack / ders / ça*li*şi*yor / o*la*maz ↷/ fut*bol / oy*nu*yor / ol*ma*lı)
Jack can’t be studying; he must be playing football.
Hatalı ol-ama-/y/ız.
(ha*ta*lı / o*la*ma*yız)
We can’t be wrong.
Sabırlı ol-amaz-/s/ınız.
(sa*bır*lı / o*la*maz*sı*nız)
You can’t be patient.
İsteksiz ol-amaz-lar.
(is*tek*siz / o*la*maz*lar)
They can’t be unwilling.

29
Question:
İyi bir yüzücü ol-amaz mı-/y/ım?
(i*yi / bir / yü*zü*cü / o*la*maz / mı*yım)
Can’t I be a good swimmer?
Yardımcı ol-amaz mı-/s/ınız?
(yar*dım*cı / o*la*maz / mı*sı*nız)
Can’t you be helpful?
Söyle-dik-i doğru ol-amaz mı?
(söy*le*di*ği / doğ*ru / o*la*maz / mı)
Can’t what he said be true? (“What he said” is a noun cluse; subject.)
Başarılı ol-amaz mı-/y/ız?
(ba*şa*rı*lı / o*la*maz / mı*yız)
Can’t we be successful?
Büro-da ol-amaz mı-/s/ınız?
(bü*ro* da / o*la*maz / mı*sı*nız)
Can’t you be in the office?
Sorumlu ol-amaz-lar mı?
(so*rum*lu / o*la*maz*lar / mı)
Can’t they be responsible?
Perfect Modals
should have been
Although past modals are used with action verbs, they are not much used
with linking verbs. However, perfect modals may be used with linking verbs
as follows.
Positive:
Daha dikkatli ol-malı/y/-dı-ın.
subj complement verb subj
(da*ha / dik*kat*li / ol*ma*lıy*dın)
You should have been more careful.
Saat sekiz-de okul-da ol-malı/y/-dı-ın.
(sa*at / se*kiz*de / o*kul*da / ol*ma*lıy*dın)
You should have been at scool at eight.

30
Geç kal-abil-ir-di-in.
(geç / ka*la*bi*lir*din)
You might have been late.
Sorumlu ol-abil-ir-di-ik.
(so*rum*lu / o*la*bi*lir*dik)
We might have been responsible.
Daha dikkatli ol-abil-ir-di-iniz.
(da*ha / dik*kat*li / o*la*bi*lir*di*niz)
You might have been more careful.

Comparing linking verbs in English and Turkish

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Comparing linking verbs in English and Turkish