Breakdown of O kadın yalan söylemiyor.
o
that / he / she / it
kadın
woman
söylemek
to say, to sing
yalan
lie (untruth)
Questions & Answers about O kadın yalan söylemiyor.
How do we know o means "that" and not "she" in this sentence?
In Turkish, o can mean "he", "she", "it", or "that". Because it comes directly before a noun (kadın, meaning "woman"), it acts as a descriptive word meaning "that". So o kadın means "that woman". If the sentence was just "She is not lying", it would be simply O yalan söylemiyor.
Why are there two words (yalan söylemiyor) for "not lying"?
In Turkish, the concept of lying is usually expressed with a combination of two words. Yalan means "a lie" and the verb söylemek means "to say" or "to tell". So yalan söylemiyor literally translates to "is not telling a lie".
How is the negative present continuous formed in söylemiyor?
The base verb is söylemek (to say/tell). To make it negative, we take the verb stem söyle- and add the negative suffix. Following vowel harmony rules for stems whose last vowel is e, the negative suffix becomes -mi. Then we add the continuous tense suffix -yor, giving us söylemiyor.
Why isn't there a personal suffix at the very end of söylemiyor?
Because the subject is "that woman" (third person singular), we don't need to add an extra personal suffix. In the present continuous tense, the "he/she/it" form simply ends with the -yor time suffix.
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