Breakdown of O adam zayıf değil mi?
o
that / he / she / it
adam
man
değil
not
zayıf
weak, thin
mi
question particle (mı/mi/mu/mü)
Questions & Answers about O adam zayıf değil mi?
How do we make a negative yes/no question like "Isn't...?" in Turkish?
To ask a negative question like "Isn't...?", you use the negative word değil (not) followed by the question particle mi. They are always written as two separate words: değil mi.
Why is the question particle mi with an 'i', when zayıf has back vowels?
The question particle always matches the vowel of the word immediately before it. Because it comes right after değil, it harmonizes with the 'i' in değil to become mi. It completely ignores the vowels in zayıf.
Why isn't there a personal suffix attached to mi?
The subject is O adam (That man), which is third-person singular (he). In Turkish, the third-person singular has no visible "to be" suffix, so the question particle just stays as a plain mi.
I learned that o means "he", "she", or "it". Why does it translate to "that" here?
When o stands alone, it means "he", "she", or "it". But when it is placed directly in front of a noun like adam (man), it acts as a pointing word (demonstrative adjective) meaning "that".
Does zayıf mean "weak" or "thin"?
It can mean both! Depending on the context, zayıf means either "thin" (referring to weight) or "weak" (referring to strength). When describing a person's general physical appearance, "thin" is a very common meaning.
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