El güzel.

to be

Breakdown of El güzel.

• güzel: beautiful
• el: the hand

Questions & Answers about El güzel.

What is the literal English translation of El güzel.?

Literally, it translates as “Hand beautiful.” With the implied copula in Turkish, this means “The hand is beautiful.”

Why is there no verb such as “is” in El güzel.?

In Turkish, the present simple tense does not require an explicit copular verb like “is.” The predicate adjective güzel follows directly after the subject el to form a complete thought.

Why doesn’t the sentence include an article such as “the” before el?

Turkish does not use articles (like “a,” “an,” or “the”). Whether a noun is definite or indefinite is determined by the context, so el stands alone without an article.

What function does güzel serve in this sentence?

Güzel is used as a predicate adjective that describes the subject el. It tells us something about the hand’s quality, forming a simple subject-predicate structure without the need for a linking verb.

How does adjective placement differ when used predicatively versus attributively in Turkish?

When describing a noun directly (attributively), adjectives in Turkish typically come before the noun—for example, güzel el would mean “beautiful hand.” In a predicate sentence like El güzel., however, the adjective follows the subject to describe its state, and there is no copula.

Do adjectives such as güzel change form based on the noun they modify?

No, adjectives in Turkish remain unchanged regardless of the noun’s number or gender. Güzel appears in the same form whether it is describing one hand or many, and regardless of other grammatical factors.