Expressing "The Thing I Must Not Do"
To express a negative necessity in a relative clause—such as "the supplement that I must not take"—build directly on the structure from the previous lesson.
Add the negative suffix (-ma / -me), the verbal noun suffix (-ma / -me), and a possessive ending to the verb stem. Finally, follow it with gereken and the noun being described.
| Subject | Verb Stem | Suffixes | Phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ben | al- | -ma-ma-m | almamam gereken takviye | the supplement that I must not take |
| Sen | iç- | -me-me-n | içmemen gereken sıvı | the fluid that you must not drink |
| O / Atlet | kullan- | -ma-ma-sı | atletin kullanmaması gereken hormon | the hormone the athlete must not use |
| Biz | tüket- | -me-me-miz | tüketmememiz gereken besin | the nutrient that we must not consume |
| There are banned supplements and nutrients that I must not take. | Almamam gereken yasaklı takviyeler ve besinler var. |
| We talked about the liquid supplements you must not drink during the competition. | Müsabaka boyunca içmemen gereken sıvı takviyeler hakkında konuştuk. |
Strict Dietary Restrictions
This structure is highly useful for discussing strict rules, such as the dietary restrictions, banned (yasaklı) substances, and doping regulations that professional athletes face before a competition (müsabaka).
| That banned hormone that he must not use before the competition is doping. | Müsabakadan önce kullanmaması gereken o yasaklı hormon dopingdir. |
Notice that even when referring to a plural subject like atletler (athletes), the third-person singular possessive suffix (-sı / -si) is generally used on the verbal noun rather than the plural form.
| There are athletes who must not take more than five grams of creatine a day. | Günde beş gramdan fazla kreatin almaması gereken atletler var. |
| This nutrient is a creatine supplement that athletes must not consume too much. | Bu besin, atletlerin fazla tüketmemesi gereken bir kreatin takviyesidir. |
You can pair this negative necessity relative clause with conditional statements (-sa / -se) or precise measurements to talk about exact limits.
| If he is going to participate in the competition, there are creatine supplements that he must not take more than ten grams of. | Müsabakaya katılacaksa, on gramdan fazla almaması gereken kreatin takviyeleri var. |
| If this fluid contained hormones, it is a doping substance that he absolutely must not drink. | Eğer bu sıvı hormon içerdiyse, kesinlikle içmemesi gereken bir doping maddesidir. |