Questions & Answers about Sır saklamak zor.
What is the grammatical structure of “Sır saklamak zor”?
The sentence consists of three parts: sır (“secret”) is a noun, saklamak (“to keep”) is the infinitive form of the verb used as a nominal clause, and zor (“difficult”) is an adjective functioning as the predicate. Together, “Sır saklamak” forms a noun phrase that serves as the subject, while zor describes that subject.
Why is the verb “saklamak” in its infinitive form rather than being conjugated?
In Turkish, when expressing a general truth or representing an activity as a concept, the infinitive form is used. Here, saklamak acts as a noun indicating the act of keeping a secret, so it is not conjugated for tense or person.
Why doesn’t the noun “sır” take an accusative marker even though it seems to be the object of “saklamak”?
In constructions where an infinitive verb creates a general activity or concept, the associated noun is often left in its bare form rather than receiving the accusative suffix. In “Sır saklamak zor,” sır remains unmarked because the entire phrase is treated as a nominal expression referring to the idea of secret-keeping.
Why is there no copula (like olmak) after the adjective zor?
Turkish frequently omits the copula in present-tense general statements. Although you might expect a form equivalent to “is” (as in “zordur”), it is common and grammatically correct in casual and general usage to simply say zor.
How would you modify the sentence to indicate that keeping a secret was difficult in the past?