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Questions & Answers about Afet geliyor.
What is the grammatical structure of Afet geliyor.?
This is a simple sentence where afet (“disaster”) functions as the subject and geliyor (“is coming”) serves as the verb. In Turkish, the subject is typically placed before the verb, and there’s no need for a separate pronoun to indicate the subject.
How is the present continuous tense formed in geliyor?
The present continuous tense in Turkish is formed by adding the suffix -iyor to the verb stem. In this sentence, the verb gelmek (to come) loses its infinitive ending, and -iyor is added to form geliyor, which translates to “is coming.”
Why is there no article like “the” before afet in the sentence?
Turkish does not have articles like the or a/an. The noun afet stands in the nominative case without any article, and its definiteness or indefiniteness is usually understood from context rather than a specific word like the.
Can Afet geliyor. be interpreted as referring to a specific disaster or a general one?
The sentence by itself is somewhat ambiguous. It generally states that a disaster is coming without explicitly specifying whether it is a particular disaster or a general warning. Context or additional modifiers could clarify the intended meaning. For example, saying Büyük afet geliyor. (A big disaster is coming) would suggest more specificity.
Why is it acceptable to omit subject pronouns in Turkish, as seen in Afet geliyor.?
In Turkish, subject pronouns are often dropped because the verb ending already provides information about the subject. The ending in geliyor indicates a third-person singular subject, so including an explicit pronoun (like “it”) is unnecessary.
Would it be correct to say Bir afet geliyor. instead of Afet geliyor., and what is the difference?
Yes, Bir afet geliyor. is also correct. Adding bir (meaning “a/an”) explicitly marks the noun as indefinite, implying that any disaster could be coming. Without bir, as in Afet geliyor., the sentence can be interpreted as referring to a specific or contextually understood disaster. The choice depends on how general or specific you wish to be.