Hayır, belge sahte değil.

No, the document is not fake.

Breakdown of Hayır, belge sahte değil.

• değil: not
• belge: the document
• sahte: fake; counterfeit
• hayır: no

Questions & Answers about Hayır, belge sahte değil.

What does each word in Hayır, belge sahte değil. do?

• Hayır = No
• belge = document
• sahte = fake / forged
• değil = not / is not

So the structure is basically:

No, document fake not.

That sounds odd in English, but it is normal in Turkish.

Why is the negative word değil used here instead of a negative suffix?

In Turkish, değil is used to negate:

• nouns
• adjectives
• noun-like predicates

Here, sahte is an adjective meaning fake, so Turkish says:

• belge sahte = the document is fake
• belge sahte değil = the document is not fake

By contrast, Turkish usually uses a negative suffix with verbs:

• geliyor = he/she is coming
• gelmiyor = he/she is not coming

So değil is used because the predicate is adjectival, not a normal verb.

Where is the verb to be in this sentence?