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Questions & Answers about Kitap okumalıyız.
What mood does -malı represent?
The suffix -malı marks the necessity or obligation mood in Turkish. It means “must,” “have to,” or “should.” So okumalıyız literally means “we must/should read.”
How is okumalıyız built up from smaller parts?
Break it down like this:
- oku‑ = verb root for “read” (from the infinitive okumak, drop -mak)
- -malı = necessity suffix (“must/should”)
- -yız = 1st person plural ending (“we”) Put together: oku‑mali‑yız → okumalıyız “we should read.”
Why isn’t the infinitive okumak used directly here?
To add moods or personal endings, Turkish removes the infinitive suffix -mak/-mek. You attach other suffixes to the remaining root (oku‑), so you get oku‑malı and then the person ending.
Why is there a y in okumalıyız?
The 1st person plural suffix is -yız (not just -ız). The y is part of that suffix and also prevents two vowels from clashing after the ı of -malı.
How does vowel harmony decide the form of -malı and -yız?
Turkish vowel harmony makes suffix vowels match preceding ones:
- -malı: The “A” becomes a and the “I” becomes ı because oku ends in the back rounded vowel u.
- -yız: Uses ı (back unrounded) because the last vowel of -malı is ı.
Why isn’t kitap in the accusative case (i.e., kitabı)?
Objects take the accusative only when they’re definite/specific. Here it’s general (“we should read a book”), so kitap stays in the nominative (unmarked) case.
How do you make this sentence negative?
Insert ma into the necessity suffix:
oku + ma + lı + yız → okumamalıyız, meaning “we should not read” or “we mustn’t read.”
How would you change the person? For example, “I should read a book.”
Swap -yız for the 1st person singular -yım (with vowel harmony).
kitap oku + malı + yım → kitap okumalıyım (“I should read a book”).
What’s the basic word order in this sentence?
Turkish is Subject‑Object‑Verb (SOV). Here the subject we is implied, kitap is the object, and okumalıyız is the verb phrase.
What’s the difference between Kitap okumalıyız and Bir kitap okumalıyız?
- Kitap okumalıyız = “We should read a book” in a general sense.
- Bir kitap okumalıyız = “We should read one (or a certain) book,” adding a sense of “one” or “some particular book.”