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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, m, m, mu
and prepositions are written and underlined green.
The Turkish glides are /n/, /s/, // 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, cant be,
cant have been, could be, must be, must have
been, should be , should have been, ought to
be, ought to have been, neednt be, neednt
have been, cant 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.

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SUBJECT AND OBJECT COMPLEMENTS IN ENGLISH AND
TURKISH
You must be a good swimmer.
This portrait may be a reproduction.
He cant be a liar.
It was I who solved all the problems.
It was Jack who was looking for you.
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 cant 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.

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SUBJECT AND OBJECT COMPLEMENTS IN ENGLISH AND
TURKISH
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.

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

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SUBJECT AND OBJECT COMPLEMENTS IN ENGLISH AND
TURKISH
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
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

2. The thin (front) vowel harmony chain is e i

In both chains, the first vowels /o/ and // 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 // 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 r

2. The thin (front) vowel harmony chain: r 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**a*, o*a**a, **e*e*i, *e*i*e, "***", "o*a"

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SUBJECT AND OBJECT COMPLEMENTS IN ENGLISH AND
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For instance:

kom*u*ya (o*u*a); kom*u*lar*dan (o*u*a*a); ge*le*cek*ler (e*e*e*e);


o*lu*tur*duk*la*r*mz*dan (o*u*u*u*a***a); u*nu*ta*lm (u*u*a*);
o*ku*la (o*u*a); ten*ce*re*ye (e*e*e*e); ka*a*ma*ya*cak (a*a*a*a*a)

Subject allomorphs in simple present tense are as follows:

Ben = im, m, m,um. Sen = /s/in, /s/n, /s/n, /s/un. O =


zero. Biz = iz, z, z, uz. Siz = /s/iniz, /s/nz, /s/nz,
/s/unuz. Onlar = zero or ler, lar

Now we can build up our first sentence having a subject


complement:

Ben retmen-im. (ben /*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:

retmen-im. (*ret*me*nim) I am a teacher.


retmen-/s/in. (*ret*men*sin) You are a teacher.
retmen. (*ret*men) He or she is a teacher.
retmen-iz. (*ret*me*niz) We are teachers.
retmen-/s/iniz. (*ret*men*si*niz) You are teachers.
Onlar retmen. (on*lar / *ret*men) They are
teachers.

Present negative sentences:

In negative sentences the word deil is used to turn the


sentences above into the negative form:

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SUBJECT AND OBJECT COMPLEMENTS IN ENGLISH AND
TURKISH
retmen deil-im. (*ret*men / de*i*lim) I am not a
teacher.
retmen deil-/s/in. (*ret*men / de*il*sin) You are
not a teacher.
retmen deil. (*ret*men / de*il) He or she is not a
teacher.
retmen deil-iz. (*ret*men / de*i*liz) We are not
teachers.
retmen deil-/s/iniz. (*ret*men / de*il*si*niz) You
are not teachers.
retmen deil-ler. (*ret*men / de*il*ler) They are
not teachers.

Present positive interrogative sentences:

(The mi, m, m, mu allomorphs turn positive


Turkish sentences into question forms.)

retmen mi-/y/im? (*ret*men / mi*yim) Am I a


teacher?
retmen mi-/s/in? (*ret*men / mi*sin) Are you a
teacher?
retmen mi? (*ret*men / mi) Is he or she a teacher?
retmen mi-/y/iz? (*ret*men / mi*yiz) Are we
teachers?
retmen mi-/s/iniz? (*ret*men / mi*si*niz) Are you
teachers?
Onlar retmen mi? (on*lar / *ret*men / mi) Are they
teachers?

The /n/, /s/, //, /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, d, d, du
the /y/ glides are inserted.

Present negative yes-no interrogative sentences:

retmen deil mi-/y/im?


(*ret*men / de*il / mi*yim)
Am I not a teacher?

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SUBJECT AND OBJECT COMPLEMENTS IN ENGLISH AND
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retmen deil mi-/s/in?


(*ret*men / de*il / mi*sin)
Are you not a teacher?

retmen deil mi?


(*ret*men / de*il / mi
Is he or she not a teacher?
retmen deil mi-/y/iz?
(*ret*men / de*il / mi*yiz)
Are we not teachers?

retmen deil mi-/s/iniz?


(*ret*men / de*il / mi*si*niz)
Are you not teachers?

retmen deil-ler mi?


(*ret*men / de*il*ler / mi)
Arent they teachers?

In place of the noun retmen, 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 postpositional phrases:

Gzel-im. (g*ze*lim) I am beautiful.


Akll-/y/m. (a*kl*l*ym) I am clever.
Gl-/y/m. (g*l*ym) I am powerful.
Yorgun-um. (yor*gu*num) I am tired.
Kap-/n/n n/n/de-/y/im. (ka*p*nn / *nn*de*yim)
I am in front of the door.

Other subject allomorphs are as follows:

Gzel-/s/in. (g*zel*sin) You are beautiful.


Akll-/s/n. (a*kl*l*sn) You are clever.
Gl-/s/n. (g*l*sn) You are poverful.
Yorgun-/s/un. (yor*gun*sun) You are tired.
Bahe-de-/s/in. (bah*e*de*sin) You are in the garden.
Okul-da-/s/n. (o*kul*da*sn) You are at school.

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SUBJECT AND OBJECT COMPLEMENTS IN ENGLISH AND
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O ok gzel. (o / ok / g*zel) She is very beautiful.
Jack ok akll. (jack / ok / a*kl*l) Jack is very clever.
ok alkan-z. (ok / a*l*ka*nz) 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 SMPLE PAST TENSES


Simple past tense positive:

Past time allomorphs di, d, d, du, ti, t, t, tu are


used in all Turkish past tenses including subject
complements. The subject allomorphs are as follows:

Ben-im, m, m, um. Sen-in, n, n, un, O-zero,


Biz-ik, k, k, uk. Siz-iniz, nz, nz , unuz. Onlar-
zero or ler-lar

Follow the examples:

Geen sene renci/y/-di-im.


(ge*en / se*ne / *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, -, -, u-u combine and
verbalize as single vowels: e, a, i, , , u because of the
harmony rules of Turkish. For instance:

Ev-de/y/-di-im. (ev*dey*dim) = I was at home.


Hazr-d-n. (ha*zr*dn) = You were ready.
zgn-d. (z*gn*d) = He was sorry.
Yorgun-du-uk. = (yor*gun*duk) = We were tired.
Sorumlu/y/-du-unuz. (so*rum*luy*du*nuz) = You were
responsible.

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SUBJECT AND OBJECT COMPLEMENTS IN ENGLISH AND
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A-t-lar. (a*t*lar) =They were hungry.
Asker-di-im. (as*ker*dim) = I was a soldier.
Bahe-de/y/-di-ik. (bah*e*dey*dik) = We were in the
garden.
ocuklar ren-mek iin istekli/y/-di-ler. (o*cuk*lar /
*ren*mek / i*in / 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 deil is used in simple past tense as in simple


present tense. Follow the example sentences:

Ev-de deil-di-im. (ev*de / de*il*dim) I wasnt at


home. Hazr deil-di-in.
(ha*zr /de*il*din) You werent ready.
Sorumlu deil-di. (so*rum*lu / de*il*di) He or she
wasnt responsible.
ocuk deil-di-ik. (o*cuk / de*il*dik) We werent
children. Okul-da deil di-
iniz. (o*kul*da / de*il*di*niz) You werent at school.
Skc deil-ler-di. (s*k*c / de*il*ler*di) They werent
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? Konser skc m/y/-d?
(kon*ser / s*k*c / my*d) Was the concert boring?
Hazr m/y/-d-k? (ha*zr /my*dk) Were we ready?
mitli mi/y/-di-iniz? (*mit*li / miy*di*niz) Were you
hopeful? Kalabalk m/y/-d-lar? (ka*la*ba*lk /
my*d*lar) Were they crowded?

Simple past tense negative question:

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SUBJECT AND OBJECT COMPLEMENTS IN ENGLISH AND
TURKISH

Sabrl deil mi/y/-di-im?


(sa*br*l / de*il / miy*dim)
Wasnt I patient?

stanbul-da deil mi/y/-di-in?


(is*tan*bul*da / de*il / miy*din)
Werent you in stanbul?

stekli deil mi/y/-di?


(is*tek*li / de*il / miy*di)
Wasnt he eager?

Sokak-ta deil mi/y/-di-ik?


(so*kak*ta / de*il / miy*dik)
Werent we in the street?

Kararl deil mi/y/-di-iniz?


(ka*rar*l / de*il / miy*di*niz)
Werent you determined?

Sarho deil mi/y/-di-ler?


(sar*ho /de*il /miy*di*di*ler)
Werent they drunk?

Ayakkablar-n amurlu deil mi/y/-di?


(a*yak*ka*b*la*rn / a*mur*lu / de*il / miy*di)
Werent 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:

Ben yirmi yldr retmen-im.


(ben / yir*mi / yl*dr / *ret*me*nim)
I have been a teacher for twenty years.

Ne kadar zamandr burada-/s/n?


(ne / ka*dar / za*man*dr / bu*ra*da*sn)
How long have you been here?

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SUBJECT AND OBJECT COMPLEMENTS IN ENGLISH AND
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ki yldr hapis-te.
(i*ki / yl*dr / ha*pis*te)
He has been in jail for two years.

In some Turkish sentences past tenses are used:

Birka kez Londra-da bulun-du-um.


(bir*ka / 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)
wont be = ol-ma-/y/acak (ol*ma*ya*cak) (negative)
can be or may be = ol-abil-ir. (o*la*bi*lir) (positive)
cant be or may not be = ol-amaz (o*la*maz)
(negative)
must be and should be= ol-mal (ol*ma*l) (positive)
mustnt be and shouldnt be= ol-ma-mal (ol*ma*ma*l)
(negative)
there used to be = eskiden var-d (es*ki*den / var*d)
(positive)
There didnt use to be = eskiden yoktu (es*ki*den /
yok*tu) (negative)
have to be = olmak zorunda (ol*mak / zo*run*da)
(positive)
Dont have to be = olmak zorund deil (ol*mak /
zo*run*da / de*il) (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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SUBJECT AND OBJECT COMPLEMENTS IN ENGLISH AND
TURKISH

positive:

Yarn brom-da ol-acak-m.


(ya*rn / b*rom*da / o*la*ca*m)
I will be in my office tomorrow.

Gelecek hafta Londra-da ol-acak-/s/n.


(ya*rn / lon*dra*da / o*la*cak*sn)
You will be in London tomorrow.

Jack leden sonra hazr ol-acak.


(jack / *le*den / son*ra / ha*zr / o*la*cak)
Jack will be ready in the afternoon.

Sorumlu ol-acak-z.
(so*rum*lu / o*la*ca*z)
We will be responsible.

Be dakika-da ev-de ol-acak-m.


(be / da*ki*ka*da / ev*de / o*la*ca*m )
I will be at home in five minutes.

Bir gn zengin ol-acak-/s/n.


(bir / gn / zen*gin / o*la*cak*sn)
You will be rich some day.

Oul-um yaknda doktor ol-acak.


(o*lum /ya*kn*da / dok*tor / o*la*cak)
My son will be a doctor soon.

Negative:

Sorumlu ol-ma-/y/acak-m.
(so*rum*lu / ol*ma*ya*ca*m)
I wont be responsible.

Mutlu ol-ma-/y/acak-/s/n.
(mut*lu / ol*ma*ya*cak*sn)
You wont be happy.

Ev-de ol-ma-/y/acak.
(ev*de / ol*ma*ya*cak)

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SUBJECT AND OBJECT COMPLEMENTS IN ENGLISH AND
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He wont be at home.

Okul-un- /n/n-de ol-ma -/y/acak-z.


(o*ku*lun / *nn*de / o*ol*ma*ya*ca*z))
We will not be in front of the school.

Tembel ol-ma-/y/acak-/s/nz.
(tem*bel / ol*ma*ya*cak*s*nz)
You wont be lazy.

Toplant-da ol-ma-/y/acak-lar.
(top*lan*t*da / ol*ma*ya*cak*lar)
They wont be in conference.

Positive yes-no question:

Mutlu ol-acak m-/y/m?


(mut*lu / o*la*cak / m*ym)
Will I be happy?

Hazr ol-acak m-/s/n?


(ha*zr / o*la*cak / m*sn)
Will you be ready?

Sakin ol-acak m?
(sa*kin / o*la*cak /m)
Will he or she be calm?

Baarl ol-acak m-/y/z?


(ba*a*r*l / o*la*cak / m*yz)
Will we be successful?

Zamann-da okul-da ol-acak m-/s/nz?


(za*ma*nn*da / o*kul*da / o*la*cak / m*s*nz)
Will you be at school in time?

ren-mek iin istekli ol-acak-lar m?


(*ren*mek / i*in / is*tek*li / o*la*cak*lar / m)
Will they be eager to learn?

Negative yes-no questions:

Baarl ol-ma-/y/acak m-/y/m?

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SUBJECT AND OBJECT COMPLEMENTS IN ENGLISH AND
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( ba*a*r*l / ol*ma*ya*cak / m*ym)
Will I not be successful?

Okul-da ol-ma-/y/acak m-/s/n?


(o*kul*da / ol*ma*ya*cak / m*sn)
Wont you be at school?

Sorumlu ol-ma-/y/acak m?
(so*rum*lu / ol*ma*ya*cak / m)
Wont he be responsible?

Toplant-da ol-ma-/y/acak m-/y/z?


(top*lan*t*da / ol*ma*ya*cak / m*yz)
Wont we be at the meeting?

Yenilmi ol-ma-/y/acak m-/s/nz?


(ye*nil*mi / ol*ma*ya*cak / m*s*nz)
Wont you be beaten?

Hazr ol-ma-/y/acak-lar m?
(ha*zr / ol*ma*ya*cak*lar / m)
Wont they be ready?

ol-abil = can be, may be


Present positive:

Hazr ol-abil-ir-im. (The ir allomorph represents simple


present time.)
(ha*zr / o*la*bi*li*rim)
I can (may) be ready.

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

Hazr ol-abil-ir.
(ha*zr / o*la*bi*lir)
He or she can (may) be ready.

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

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SUBJECT AND OBJECT COMPLEMENTS IN ENGLISH AND
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Hazr ol-abil-ir-/s/iniz.
(ha*zr / o*la*bi*lir *si*niz)
You can (may) be ready.

Hazr ol-abil-ir-ler.
(ha*zr / o*la*bi*lir*ler)
They can (may) be ready.

You can put any nouns, adjectives or postpositional


phrases in place of the adjectives hazr or ready to
produce other Turkish or English subject complements, such
as:

Okul-un n-n-de ol-abil-ir-ler.


(o*ku*lun / *nn*de / o*la*bi*lir*ler)
They can (may) be in front of the school.

Present negative cant

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.

Hazr ol-ama-am.
(ha*zr / o*la*mam)
I cant be ready.

Hazr ol-amaz-/s/n.
(ha*zr / o*la*maz*sn)
You cant be ready.

Hazr ol-amaz.
(ha*zr / o*la*maz)
He or she cant be ready.

Hazr ol-ama-/y/z.
(ha*zr / o*la*ma*yz)
We cant be ready.

Hazr ol-amaz-/s/nz.
(ha*zr / o*la*maz*s*nz)

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SUBJECT AND OBJECT COMPLEMENTS IN ENGLISH AND
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You cant be ready.

Hazr ol-amaz-lar.
(ha*zr / o*la*maz*lar)
They cant be ready.

You can put any nouns, adjectives or postpositional


phrases in place of the adjectives hazr or ready
to produce other Turkish or English subject complements.

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

leden sonra ev-de ol-ma-/y/a-bil-ir-im.


(*le*den / son*ra / ev*de / ol*ma*ya*bi*li*rim)
I may not be at home in the afternoon.

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

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

Baarl ol-ma-/y/abil-ir-iz.
(ba*a*r*l / 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.

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

Eskiden var-d = There used to be


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

Eskiden yok-tu = There didnt use to be

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SUBJECT AND OBJECT COMPLEMENTS IN ENGLISH AND
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Eskiden bura-da bir bina yok-tu.


(es*ki*den / bu*ra* da / bir / bi*na / yok*tu)
There didnt use to be a building here.

Ol-mak zorunda = Have to be


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

Ol-mak zorunda deil = Dont have to be


Yarn bro-da ol-mak zorunda deil-im.
(ya*rn/ b*ro*da / ol*mak /zo*run*da / de*i *lim)
I dont have to be in the office tomorrow.

Gerek yok = Neednt be


Yarn bro-da ol-ma-am-a gerek yok.
(ya*rn / b*ro*da / ol*ma*ma / ge*rek / yok)
I neednt 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:

Kzkarde-im hep ben-i kzdr-r (kzdr-.yor). (Kzdr is


a transitive verb.)
(kz*kar*de*im / hep / be*ni / kz*d*r*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
sisters habit; but if he uses a continuous verb, the sentence
means he is complaining about his sister.

Duvarlar- yeil-(e) boya-d-m.


(du*var*la*r / ye*i*le / bo*ya*dm)
I painted the walls green.

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SUBJECT AND OBJECT COMPLEMENTS IN ENGLISH AND
TURKISH
ay-m- scak tercih et-er-im.
(a*y*m / s*cak / ter*cih / e*de*rim)
I prefer my tea hot.

Onlar-n teklif-i-/n/i nemli bul-uyor-uz.


(on*la*rn / tek*li*fi*ni / *nem*li / bu*lu*yo*ruz)
We consider their proposal important.

Scak gne yapraklar- sarart-t. (Sarart is a


transitive action verb.)
(s*cak / g*ne / yap*rak*la*r / sa*rart*t)
The hot sun turned the leaves yellow.

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