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Questions & Answers about Ne sis ne de rüzgâr bizi durdurdu; yürüyüşe çıktık.
What does the pattern ne … ne de … mean, and how is it used here?
- It means “neither … nor ….” So Ne sis ne de rüzgâr = “Neither the fog nor the wind.”
- It coordinates two constituents (here, subjects) and makes the whole clause negative by itself.
- Typical pattern: ne X ne (de) Y + [affirmative verb].
- In your sentence: Ne sis ne de rüzgâr bizi durdurdu = “Neither the fog nor the wind stopped us.”
Why is the verb affirmative (durdurdu) instead of negative (durdurmadı)?
- With ne … ne de …, Turkish normally uses an affirmative verb; the negativity is already carried by the correlative pair.
- Saying Ne sis ne de rüzgâr bizi durdurmadı is a double negative in Turkish and sounds nonstandard to many speakers.
- So the standard form is exactly what you have: … durdurdu.
Do I have to include de after the second ne? Can I say ne … ne … without it?
- Both are used: ne X ne Y and ne X ne de Y. The version with de is very common and slightly more natural in many contexts.
- Your sentence uses the common form: ne sis ne de rüzgâr.
Why is it always ne de, not ne da?
- The de/da here is the additive particle meaning “also/too,” written as a separate word and obeying front/back vowel harmony with the preceding word.
- Since it follows ne (which has the front vowel e), it becomes de, not da. In this construction you will practically always see ne de.
How does case work with ne … ne de …? Do both items take the same case?
- Yes, each coordinated item takes the case it needs.
- As subjects here, sis and rüzgâr are unmarked (nominative).
- For objects you’d mark both: e.g., Ne Ali’yi ne de Ayşe’yi gördüm (“I saw neither Ali nor Ayşe”).
Why is it bizi and not biz or bize?
- bizi is the accusative form of biz (“we/us”) and is used for a definite direct object: “us.”
- biz is nominative (“we”) and would be a subject.
- bize is dative (“to us”) and would be used with verbs or postpositions that require “to.”
Is the word order standard? Where should bizi go?
- Yes. Turkish default is Subject–Object–Verb (SOV): [Ne sis ne de rüzgâr] [bizi] [durdurdu].
- You can move bizi for focus: Ne sis ne de rüzgâr durdurdu bizi, but the default is before the verb.
Should the verb be plural (like durdurdular) because there are two things (fog and wind)?
- No. Turkish typically uses third person singular agreement for non-human plural subjects and for coordinated subjects like this.
- … durdurdu is natural; … durdurdular would sound odd here.
What exactly is inside durdurdu morphologically?
- dur (to stop/stand) + causative -dur- (“make [something] stop”) → durdur- (“to stop [something]”)
- Past tense -du with 3rd person singular: durdur-du = “(he/she/it) stopped.”
- So rüzgâr (or sis) is the subject that caused the stopping; bizi is the thing stopped.
What does yürüyüşe çıktık literally mean, and why the dative -e?
- Literally: “we went out for a walk.”
- yürüyüş = “walk, walking” (a noun) + -e (dative) to mark the goal/purpose.
- çıkmak = “to go out; to set off.” The collocation yürüyüşe çıkmak is the idiomatic way to say “to go (out) for a walk.”
How is çıktık formed, and where is the pronoun “we”?
- çık- (go out) + past -tı
- 1st person plural -k → çık-tı-k = “we went out.”
- Turkish marks the subject on the verb, so the pronoun biz is optional. You could say Biz yürüyüşe çıktık for emphasis on “we.”
Why is there a semicolon between the two clauses?
- Turkish uses the semicolon much like English: to link two closely related independent clauses.
- You could also write a period, or connect them with ve (“and”): … durdurdu ve yürüyüşe çıktık. The semicolon feels crisp and stylistic.
What’s with the circumflex in rüzgâr? How do I pronounce it, and is rüzgar wrong?
- The circumflex (â) signals palatalization/lengthening in some words. In rüzgâr, it indicates a slightly lengthened/palatalized “a.”
- Many people type rüzgar without the circumflex in everyday writing; it’s common and widely understood. The version with â is more careful/standard.
- Roughly pronounce it like “ryuz-GYAAR,” with a slightly longer “a.”
Could I say yürüyüşe gittik or yürümeye çıktık instead?
- The most idiomatic choice is yürüyüşe çıkmak.
- yürüyüşe gitmek is also heard and acceptable, just a bit less idiomatic.
- yürümeye çıkmak/gitmek is possible but less common; natives generally prefer the noun yürüyüş in this set phrase.