Breakdown of Sen kahvaltı yapmıyorsun.
sen
you
yapmak
to do / to make
kahvaltı
breakfast
kahvaltı yapmak
to have breakfast (the everyday form)
Questions & Answers about Sen kahvaltı yapmıyorsun.
Wait, doesn't yapmak mean "to do" or "to make"? Why is it translated as "having" breakfast?
In Turkish, you don't "eat" or "have" breakfast; you "make" or "do" it. The phrase for "to have breakfast" is kahvaltı yapmak. So kahvaltı yapmıyorsun literally means "you are not making breakfast," but it is simply how Turkish speakers say "you are not having breakfast."
Can you break down the suffixes in yapmıyorsun?
Sure! It starts with the verb root yap (do/make). Then we add the negative suffix for the present continuous, which is -mı here. Next is the present continuous tense marker -yor (meaning "are doing"). Finally, we add the personal suffix for "you" which is -sun. Put it all together: yap-mı-yor-sun (you are not doing).
Why is the negative suffix -mı here, instead of -mi or -mu?
It is because of 4-way vowel harmony. We look at the last vowel in the verb root yap. Since the vowel is a, the harmony rules tell us to use an undotted ı, giving us the negative suffix -mı. Before the -yor suffix, negative markers always end in ı, i, u, or ü.
Is the word sen (you) required at the beginning of the sentence?
No, it is entirely optional. The suffix -sun at the end of yapmıyorsun already tells us exactly who is doing the action. Adding sen at the beginning just adds a little bit of emphasis, similar to saying "As for you, you are not having breakfast."
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