Bu bir yalan değil; gerçekten otobüs gecikti.

to be

Breakdown of Bu bir yalan değil; gerçekten otobüs gecikti.

• bu: this
• bir: a
• otobüs: the bus

Questions & Answers about Bu bir yalan değil; gerçekten otobüs gecikti.

Why is there no actual verb meaning is in Bu bir yalan değil?

In Turkish, the verb to be is often not stated as a separate word in the present tense.

So:

• Bu bir yalan. = This is a lie.
• Bu bir yalan değil. = This is not a lie.

The negative word değil does the job of is not / are not in this kind of sentence.

This is very common with noun and adjective sentences in Turkish:

• Bu güzel. = This is beautiful.
• Bu güzel değil. = This is not beautiful.

What exactly does değil mean, and why is it written separately?

Değil is the standard negator used for nominal sentences—sentences where the predicate is a noun, adjective, or similar word, not a regular action verb.

In this sentence:

• Bu bir yalan değil.
• literally: This a lie not.
• natural English: This is not a lie.

It is written separately because it is its own word.

Compare:

• gelmedi = he/she did not come
  Here the negation is inside the verb.
• yalan değil = is not a lie
  Here the negation is the separate word değil.