Breakdown of Ben fısıldıyorsam kimseyi rahatsız etmiyorum.
ben
I
kimse
no one / anyone
fısıldamak
to whisper
rahatsız etmek
to disturb
Questions & Answers about Ben fısıldıyorsam kimseyi rahatsız etmiyorum.
How do we build the word fısıldıyorsam to mean "if I am whispering"?
This uses the present continuous conditional from our current lesson! It is made of the verb root fısılda- (to whisper), the present continuous suffix -ıyor, the conditional suffix -sa (meaning "if"), and the first-person singular ending -m (I). Together, they mean "If I am currently whispering."
The dictionary form of the verb is fısıldamak. Why does the a change to an ı in fısıldıyorsam?
This is due to vowel narrowing. When a verb ends in a or e (like fısılda-), adding the -ıyor suffix squishes or "narrows" that final vowel into ı, i, u, or ü. So, a becomes ı, giving us fısıldıyor. The exact same rule applies to the negative verb etmiyorum, where the negative suffix -me turns into -mi right before -yor.
Does kimse mean "anyone" or "nobody"?
It means both, depending on the verb! Turkish doesn't have a strict double-negative rule like English. To say "nobody" or "not anyone", Turkish uses kimse together with a negative verb. Since the verb here is negative (etmiyorum), kimseyi translates as "anyone" in English (as in "I am not disturbing anyone").
Why does kimse have a -yi at the end of it here?
The suffix -yi is the accusative case marker. It points out that kimse is the direct object receiving the action of the verb rahatsız etmek (to disturb). Since kimse ends in a vowel, it needs the buffer letter y before the -i suffix.
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