Breakdown of Gece sessiz olunca yıldızlar daha net görünür.
olmak
to be
daha
more
olunca
when
gece
the night
Questions & Answers about Gece sessiz olunca yıldızlar daha net görünür.
What does the suffix -ınca in olunca mean?
The suffix -ınca (with its vowel-harmonized forms -ince/-unca/-ünce) is a temporal conjunction equivalent to when in English. It attaches to verb stems (or “become” verbs) to form “when X happens”. In olunca, ol- is the verb root “to be”, and -unca gives “when it is/becomes…”.
Why do we need to add ol- after the adjective sessiz before attaching -ınca?
Because -ınca can only attach to verb stems, not adjectives directly. To express “when quiet,” you turn sessiz (adjective quiet) into a verb with sessiz olmak (to be quiet). Then you get sessiz ol- + -unca = sessiz olunca (“when it is quiet”).
Why is the verb görünür in the aorist tense instead of the present continuous görünüyor?