Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching Turkish grammar and vocabulary.
Questions & Answers about Karanlık gece çok sessiz.
Why is karanlık placed before gece, but sessiz comes after?
Because these two adjectives serve different functions.
- karanlık is an attributive adjective modifying the noun gece (“dark night”), so adjectives always precede nouns in Turkish.
- sessiz is a predicate adjective describing the subject (“the dark night is quiet”). In a nominal predicate Turkish places the subject first (here the noun phrase karanlık gece) and the adjective (the predicate) after, with a zero‐copula.
What does the suffix -lık do in karanlık?
The suffix -lık is a derivational suffix that creates a noun or adjective expressing “the quality or state of.”
- In karanlık, it turns the root into darkness, which then functions as an adjective meaning dark.
- The whole word karanlık can be used alone as a noun (“darkness”) or before another noun as an adjective (“dark…”).
What role does çok play in this sentence?
çok is an adverb of degree meaning very or much.
- It modifies the adjective sessiz (“quiet”), intensifying it to very quiet.
- In Turkish, adverbs of degree typically come directly before the adjective or adverb they modify: çok sessiz.
Why is there no article like the or a before gece?
Turkish does not have definite or indefinite articles.
- Context alone tells you whether you mean a night or the night.
- So karanlık gece can mean (a) dark night or the dark night, depending on what you’re talking about.
Why is there no verb is in this sentence?
Turkish drops the present-tense copula in nominal sentences.
- You simply state subject + adjective without to be.
- Karanlık gece çok sessiz. literally becomes “Dark night very quiet.”
- In more formal or written style you could add -dir (see next question), but the zero-copula is most common in speech.
What case is gece in, and why doesn’t it have any ending?
gece is in the nominative case as the subject of the sentence.
- The nominative (dictionary) form has no suffix.
- Only objects, indirect objects or other roles receive case endings in Turkish.
Could we say Karanlık gece çok sessizdir instead? What does -dir add?
Yes. Adding -dir to sessiz (making sessizdir) marks the third person singular copula and creates a more formal or written style.
- sessiz
- -dir = sessizdir (“is quiet”).
- Without -dir the statement is neutral and used in everyday speech. With -dir it sounds more objective, like a dictionary definition or report.
Why is Karanlık capitalized but gece is not?
In Turkish you only capitalize:
- the first word of a sentence
- proper nouns (names, places, etc.)
Here, Karanlık is capitalized because it starts the sentence, while gece remains lowercase as a common noun.