Breakdown of Lütfen bu uyarıyı ciddiye al.
bu
this
lütfen
please
uyarı
the warning
ciddiye almak
to take seriously
Questions & Answers about Lütfen bu uyarıyı ciddiye al.
What does each part of the sentence Lütfen bu uyarıyı ciddiye al mean, morphologically?
- Lütfen = please
- bu = this (demonstrative)
- uyarı = warning (noun formed from the verb uyarmak “to warn”)
- -yı = accusative case suffix on uyarı, making uyarıyı “this warning” as a definite direct object
- ciddi = serious
- -ye = dative suffix; in the set phrase ciddiye almak it forms an idiomatic adverbial meaning “seriously”
- al = take (2nd person singular imperative; subject “you” is implied)
Why is it uyarıyı and not just uyarı?
Because the object is definite/specific. In Turkish, definite direct objects take the accusative:
- Bu uyarıyı = “this warning” (specific) → needs accusative: uyarıyı.
- An indefinite, non-specific object would not take accusative: Bir uyarı ciddiye al = “Take a warning seriously.” (grammatically fine, though less natural in isolation).
What is the purpose of the extra y in uyarıyı?
It’s a buffer consonant. When a word ending in a vowel takes a suffix beginning with a vowel, Turkish inserts y to avoid two vowels colliding: uyarı + -(ı) → uyarı-y-ı.
This happens with other vowel-initial suffixes too: ara + -a → araya, .