Learn Hardcore Turkish: Kapanış kısa ama etkileyiciydi. - The closing was short but impressive.

Turkish does not use indefinite or definite articles. Nouns stand alone, and context tells you whether something is “a” or “the.” So you simply say kapanış for “the closing” or “a closing,” depending on the situation.

Why does kapanış have no ending? Shouldn’t it take a case or -ı?

Here kapanış is the subject of the sentence and remains in the nominative (unmarked) form. In Turkish, subjects in simple sentences typically appear without any suffix.

Why is there no past-tense suffix (-ydı) after kısa?

When two adjectives are joined by a conjunction like ama (“but”), you only need one copula. Turkish allows you to attach the past‐tense copula just to the second adjective. The single copula in etkileyiciydi applies to both “short” and “impressive.”

Couldn’t we say kısaydı ama etkileyiciydi instead?

Yes. Adding the copula to both adjectives (kısaydı ama etkileyiciydi) is perfectly correct. The shorter version without -ydı after kısa is simply more colloquial and concise.

How exactly is etkileyiciydi constructed?

Breakdown: • etkile- (verb root “to affect, to impress”)
• -yici (adjective‐forming suffix, “able to…” → “impressive”)
• -ydi (past‐tense copula “was”)
Altogether, etkileyiciydi = “it was impressive.”

Why is there a y before the “dı/di” in etkileyiciydi?

Turkish avoids two vowels in a row by inserting a buffer consonant, usually y, when a suffix beginning with a vowel follows a vowel‐ending stem. Vowel harmony then determines that the copula is -ydi (front unrounded because etkileyici ends in i).

What’s the role of ama here? Are there alternatives?

ama means “but” and indicates a contrast between being short and being impressive. You can use other synonyms like fakat or ancak, but ama is the most common in spoken and informal Turkish.

Why is kısa used instead of küçük?

kısa refers to duration or length in time. küçük means “small” in physical size. A “short” speech or closing is always described with kısa in Turkish.