Sigorta kutusu açık değil; tam tersine kapalı.

open

Breakdown of Sigorta kutusu açık değil; tam tersine kapalı.

• değil: not
• kapalı: closed
• tam tersine: on the contrary

Questions & Answers about Sigorta kutusu açık değil; tam tersine kapalı.

Why is it sigorta kutusu and not sigorta kutu?

Because sigorta kutusu is a Turkish noun compound.

In this kind of compound, the first noun modifies the second noun, and the second noun usually takes the 3rd person possessive suffix:

• sigorta = fuse / insurance
• kutu = box
• kutu-su = its box / box of _

So:

• sigorta kutusu = fuse box

This is a very common Turkish pattern:

• araba kapısı = car door
• telefon numarası = phone number
• mutfak masası = kitchen table

So even though English just says fuse box, Turkish normally says sigorta kutusu.

What does açık değil literally mean, and why is değil separate?

Açık değil literally means not open.

• açık = open
• değil = not / is not

In Turkish, when you negate a noun or adjective predicate, you usually use değil as a separate word.

So:

• Açık. = It is open.
• Açık değil. = It is not open.

This is different from verb negation, where Turkish often uses a suffix:

• geliyor = he/she is coming
• gelmiyor = he/she is not coming

So here, since açık is an adjective, değil is the correct negation.

Why is there no word for is in the sentence?