Questions & Answers about O doktor sigara içmiyor.
How is the negative present continuous formed in içmiyor?
The verb root is iç-. To make it negative in the present continuous, we add a negative suffix before -yor. Because -yor always requires a narrow vowel (ı, i, u, ü) right before it, the normal negative suffix -me changes to -mi to match the vowel harmony of the root. This gives us iç + mi + yor.
I thought içmek meant to drink. Why is it translated as smoking here?
In Turkish, the verb içmek is used for consuming both liquids and smoke. The phrase for smoking is always sigara içmek (literally to drink cigarette). You will also see this verb used for eating soup!
Why doesn't sigara have any extra endings attached to it?
Because it is a general, non-specific object here. The doctor is not smoking a specific cigarette; they are just doing the general action of cigarette-smoking. In Turkish, general objects are placed right before the verb and do not take any extra suffixes.
Can O mean He or She instead of That?
Yes! O is both the pronoun for he/she/it and the pointing word for that. Here, because it comes right before the noun doktor, it acts as a descriptive word meaning That doctor. If the sentence was just O sigara içmiyor, it would mean He or She is not smoking.