Breakdown of Misafir gelince kolonya sıkmak güzel bir adettir.
olmak
to be
güzel
nice
bir
a
gelince
when
misafir
the guest
kolonya
the cologne
sıkmak
to squeeze
adet
the custom
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Questions & Answers about Misafir gelince kolonya sıkmak güzel bir adettir.
What does the suffix -ince in gelince do?
The suffix -ince attaches directly to a verb stem (here gel-, “come”) to mean “when” or “once (something happens)”. So gelince = “when (someone) comes.”
Why isn’t misafir marked with any case ending in the clause Misafir gelince?
In Turkish, the subject of a clause stays in the nominative (unmarked) case. Here misafir (“guest”) is the subject of gelince, so it appears without any suffix.
Why doesn’t kolonya take the accusative suffix -yı/-yi/-yu/-yü before sıkmak?
Kolonya sıkmak is an infinitive phrase (“to spray cologne”), and objects in such non-finite constructions are often left unmarked to express indefiniteness (“some cologne”). If you wanted to specify “the cologne,” you could say kolonyayı sıkmak, but here it’s general.
Doesn’t sıkmak normally mean “to squeeze”? Why is it used with kolonya?
Literally, sıkmak is “to squeeze” (for example, squeezing a sponge). With kolonya, it evokes squeezing the bottle’s top so that a fine mist comes out. In everyday Turkish kolonya sıkmak idiomatically means “to spritz/apply cologne.”
What does adettir mean, and why that form?
The noun adet means “custom” or “habit.” Adding the third-person copula -tir and the zero-copula vowel gives adettir = “it is a custom.”
Why is there a bir before adet in güzel bir adettir?
To say “a custom” in Turkish you need bir + noun. Without bir, güzel adet would sound incomplete. So güzel bir adettir = “it’s a nice custom.”
Could you use geldiğinde instead of gelince? What’s the difference?
Yes.
- gelince = gel
- -ince, “when/once (someone) comes,” with a sense of immediacy.
- geldiğinde = gel
- -di (past) + -ğinde, also “when (someone) comes,” a bit more neutral or general.
Both are correct; gelince is simply a bit more concise.
- -di (past) + -ğinde, also “when (someone) comes,” a bit more neutral or general.
What exactly is kolonya in Turkish culture?
Kolonya is a rose- or lemon-scented cologne (high-alcohol solution) traditionally offered to guests at the door. It’s both a gesture of hospitality and a way to refresh or sanitize hands, especially in hot weather or after travel.