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Questions & Answers about Gürültü yapmamak önemli.
What role does -mamak play in gürültü yapmamak?
The root verb is yapmak (“to do/make”). In Turkish, you form the negative infinitive by inserting -ma- before the infinitive marker -k, giving yapmamak (“not to do/make”). So gürültü yapmamak literally means “not to make noise,” with gürültü (“noise”) as the object of yapmamak.
Why is gürültü yapmamak in its infinitive form instead of a finite tense like yapmıyorum?
When you want to talk about an action as an abstract concept—here, the idea of “not making noise”—Turkish uses the infinitive (verbal noun) form. A finite form like yapmıyorum (“I am not making”) would specify a particular subject (“I”), whereas the infinitive keeps it general.
How does gürültü yapmamak function grammatically in this sentence?
The entire phrase gürültü yapmamak acts as a noun clause (a verbal noun). It is the subject of the sentence. In English you’d say “Not making noise is important,” where “Not making noise” is the subject; in Turkish the infinitive clause serves the same role.
There’s no “is” in Gürültü yapmamak önemli. How do we get “is important”?
Turkish drops the copula (the verb “to be”) in the present tense. Adjectives can serve directly as predicates. So önemli by itself means “is important.” The sentence literally reads “Not making noise important,” understood as “Not making noise is important.”
Why does önemli come at the end of the sentence?
Turkish word order for a simple statement is typically Subject (or topic) + Object/Modifier + Predicate. Here, gürültü yapmamak is the subject/topic and önemli is the predicate, so önemli naturally appears at the end.
Can I make it “very important”? How would I say that?
Yes. Simply add çok (“very”) before önemli:
Gürültü yapmamak çok önemli.
= “Not making noise is very important.”
Is gürültü yapmak the only way to say “make noise”? What about gürültü çıkarmak?
Both are used. Gürültü yapmak literally “to make noise” is very common in colloquial speech. Gürültü çıkarmak (“to produce noise”) is also correct but slightly more formal or literary. You can say gürültü çıkarmamak önemli just as well.
How would I specify who shouldn’t make noise? For example, “Your not making noise is important.”
You turn the infinitive clause into a possessive noun phrase by adding the possessive suffix to yapmama:
– Informal singular “your”: Gürültü yapmaman önemli.
– Formal or plural “your”: Gürültü yapmamanız önemli.
You can also add a pronoun for clarity: Sizin gürültü yapmamanız önemli.