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Questions & Answers about Kimse evde kalmıyor.
What does Kimse evde kalmıyor literally mean in English?
It literally means “No one is staying at home.”
- Kimse = “no one”
- evde = “at home” (ev = “house,” ‑de = locative “at/in”)
- kalmıyor = “is not staying” (kal- = “to stay,” ‑mıyor = present-continuous negative)
Why do we use kimse with a negative verb form instead of just saying “Kimse evde kalıyor”?
In Turkish, kimse is a negative-polarity item— it only appears with negation. An affirmative sentence would use herkes (“everyone”) instead:
- Correct negative: Kimse evde kalmıyor (“No one is staying at home.”)
- Correct affirmative: Herkes evde kalıyor (“Everyone is staying at home.”)
How is the negation formed in kalmıyor?
Turkish expresses negation by inserting -ma/-me before the tense suffix:
- kal- (stem “to stay”)
- ‑ma (negative) → kalma-
- ‑ıyor (present-continuous) → kalmıyor
- No extra person ending for 3rd person singular
Why isn’t there an explicit “he/she/they” in kalmıyor?
In Turkish, the 3rd person singular and plural forms often have a zero ending in the present-continuous tense:
- kalmıyor can mean “he/she/it is not staying” or “they are not staying,” depending on context.
- If you need to clarify “they,” you can add onlar: Onlar evde kalmıyor.
Can I change the word order? For example, is Evde kimse kalmıyor also correct?
Yes. Turkish has flexible word order for emphasis:
- Kimse evde kalmıyor. (neutral)
- Evde kimse kalmıyor. (emphasizes the location “at home”)
What’s the difference between kimse and hiç kimse?
- kimse already means “no one” and requires negation.
- hiç kimse adds emphasis (“absolutely no one”) and still needs a negative verb:
Hiç kimse evde kalmıyor. = “Absolutely no one is staying at home.”
Why don’t we say kimseler to make “no ones” plural?
Indefinite pronouns like kimse are inherently non-count and don’t take a plural suffix. They already cover the idea of “no person(s)” collectively.
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