Geçiş zor.

to be

Breakdown of Geçiş zor.

• zor: difficult
• geçiş: the transition

Questions & Answers about Geçiş zor.

What part of speech is geçiş and how is it formed?

geçiş is a noun. It comes from the verb geçmek (“to pass”) plus the deverbal noun suffix -iş, giving the meaning “passage,” “crossing” or “transition.”

What part of speech is zor and what does it mean?

zor is an adjective meaning “hard” or “difficult.” In Geçiş zor, it describes the difficulty of the geçiş (“the transition is difficult”).

Why isn’t there a word for “is” in Geçiş zor?

In Turkish the present‐tense copula (“to be”) is dropped. When you say Geçiş zor, you literally get “Transition difficult,” but it’s understood as “The transition is difficult.”

Which grammatical case is geçiş in?

geçiş is in the nominative case—it’s the simple subject of the sentence. Turkish subjects are unmarked in the nominative when they appear as the topic or subject.

How do you pronounce geçiş and where is the stress?

• geçiş is pronounced [ge-CHISH], with stress on the last syllable: ge-ÇİŞ.
• zor is a single‐syllable word, so you stress that whole syllable: ZOR.

How would you turn Geçiş zor into a question?

Add the question particle mu after the adjective with vowel harmony:
• Geçiş zor mu?
This means “Is the transition difficult?”

How do you negate the sentence?

Place değil (“not”) after the adjective:
• Geçiş zor değil.
This means “The transition is not difficult.”

How do you express “the transition was difficult”?

Attach the past‐tense copula -du to zor, which becomes zordu:
• Geçiş zordu.
Literally “Transition difficult-PAST,” i.e. “The transition was difficult.”

Can you make geçiş plural, and how does that affect the sentence?

Yes—add the plural suffix -ler:
• Geçişler zor.
This means “Transitions are difficult” or “Crossings are hard.”