Kuralları ihlal edersek ceza gelebilir.

If we violate the rules, a penalty may come.

Breakdown of Kuralları ihlal edersek ceza gelebilir.

• kural: the rule
• gelebilmek: to be able to come
• -se: if
• ihlal etmek: to violate
• ceza: the penalty

Questions & Answers about Kuralları ihlal edersek ceza gelebilir.

Can you break the sentence down morphologically?

• kural-lar-ı = rule-PL-ACC → kuralları “the rules” (direct object)
• ihlal et-er-sek = violate do-AOR-COND-1PL → ihlal edersek “if we violate”
• ceza gel-e-bil-ir = penalty come-POT-AOR.3SG → ceza gelebilir “a penalty may come” Overall: “If we violate the rules, a penalty may come.”

Where is the word “we”? I don’t see a pronoun.

It’s on the verb as the suffix -k in edersek. Turkish usually drops subject pronouns because person/number are shown on the verb. You could add biz for emphasis: Biz kuralları ihlal edersek…

Why is it kuralları (accusative) and not kurallar?

Because ihlal etmek “to violate” takes a direct object, and here it’s specific/definite: “the rules” (of this place/system). The accusative -ı marks that definiteness: kural-lar-ı → “the rules.”

Why not kurallara? I often see dative with rules.

Different verbs take different cases:

• ihlal etmek (to violate) → takes a direct object in accusative: kuralları ihlal etmek
• uymak (to obey/comply) → takes dative: kurallara uymak So: Kuralları ihlal edersek… vs Kurallara uymazsak…

What exactly is ihlal etmek? Is it one verb or two words?

It’s a light-verb construction: the noun ihlal (“violation,” from Arabic) + the light verb etmek (“to do/make”) = “to violate.” You can think of it as one lexical unit: ihlal etmek = “to violate.”

• More formal: ihlal etmek
• More conversational: kuralları çiğnemek “to break the rules”
• Negative framing: kurallara uymamak “to not follow the rules”

What does the conditional -se(k) in edersek do?

It means “if.” The stem et- takes the aorist -er (et-er), then conditional -se, then 1st person plural -k → ed-er-sek = “if we do/if we violate.” It expresses a general condition.

Why the aorist (generic) in the “if”-clause and not future or present continuous?

In Turkish, real/likely conditions typically use the aorist in the -se/-sa clause: ihlal edersek “if we violate (ever/at any time).” Alternatives:

• ihlal edince = “when(ever) we violate” (more temporal)
• ihlal ediyorsak = “if we are (right now) violating” (specific ongoing situation)

What does -ebil- add in gelebilir?

-ebil- is the potential/possibility morpheme. Here it means “may/might”: gelebilir = “may come.” It can also mean ability in other contexts (“can”), but here it’s about possibility.

Why say ceza gelebilir (“a penalty may come”) instead of “we may get a penalty”?

Turkish often uses an impersonal or event-focused phrasing. Alternatives (all natural, with nuances):

• Ceza gelebilir. (impersonal, neutral)
• Ceza alabiliriz. (we may receive a penalty)
• Bize ceza kesilebilir / verilebilir. (a penalty/fine may be issued to us; passive, formal)
• Ceza yiyebiliriz. (we might get a penalty; colloquial)

Who is the subject of ceza gelebilir?

The subject is ceza (“a penalty”). It’s third-person singular. The -iz ending doesn’t appear here because “we” is not the subject of gelmek.

How do I explicitly say “to us”?

Add the dative bize:

• Bize ceza gelebilir. (A penalty may come to us.) Position is flexible: Kuralları ihlal edersek, bize ceza gelebilir.

Can I change the word order?

Yes. Word order is flexible for emphasis:

• Kuralları ihlal edersek, ceza gelebilir. (neutral)
• Ceza gelebilir, kuralları ihlal edersek. (emphasizes the outcome first)
• Bize ceza gelebilir, kuralları ihlal edersek. (adds “to us”)

How would I make it stronger or weaker?

• Stronger/more certain: Kuralları ihlal edersek, ceza gelir/gelecek.
• Weaker/negative: Kuralları ihlal etmezsek, ceza gelmez/gelmeyebilir.

What’s a more formal, regulation-like way to say this?

• Kuralları ihlal etmemiz hâlinde ceza uygulanabilir.
• Kuralların ihlali durumunda ceza kesilebilir. Both sound official, using nominalizations and passives.

Are there good synonyms for “violate the rules”?

• Kuralları çiğnemek (very common, neutral)
• Kurallara uymamak (not to comply with the rules)
• More formal/legal: kuralları ihlal etmek, kuralları/kuralları ihlal suretiyle…

Any quick pronunciation tips?

• c in ceza is like English “j” in “jam.”
• ı in kuralları is the undotted ı, like a relaxed “uh.”
• Syllables: ku-ral-la-rı | ih-lal | e-der-sek | ce-za | ge-le-bi-lir.