Breakdown of Unutkan yolcu her şeyi arıyor ama bagajda hiçbir şey yok.
yok
there is not / non-existent
yolcu
passenger
her
every
aramak
to look for, to call
ama
but
şey
thing
bagaj
luggage / baggage
hiçbir
no / not any (determiner)
unutkan
forgetful
Questions & Answers about Unutkan yolcu her şeyi arıyor ama bagajda hiçbir şey yok.
Why does her şey have an -i at the end to make her şeyi?
Her şey means "everything". In this sentence, it is the direct object of the verb arıyor (is looking for). When you look for something in Turkish, the thing you are searching for takes the accusative (specific direct object) case. Because "everything" is being treated as the specific target of the search, her şey gets the -i suffix.
Why doesn't hiçbir şey have a suffix here like her şeyi does?
In the second half of the sentence, hiçbir şey (nothing) is the subject, not a direct object. It is the thing that is "not there" (yok), so it stays in its plain, dictionary form. Also, notice that şey is always written as a separate word in both phrases!
Literally translated, doesn't hiçbir şey yok mean "nothing is not there"?
Exactly! Turkish requires double negatives. When you use a negative pronoun like hiçbir şey (nothing) or hiçkimse (nobody), the sentence's verb or existence word must also be negative. So you must pair it with yok (there isn't) or a negative verb to mean "there is nothing."
The verb is aramak (to search). Why is it spelled arıyor instead of "arayor"?
When a verb root ends in the vowels a or e (like ara-), and you add the present continuous suffix (-yor), that final vowel narrows to fit vowel harmony. The a in ara- changes to ı to match, making it arıyor.
How is the word unutkan (forgetful) formed?
It comes from the verb unutmak (to forget). The suffix -kan (which can also be -ken, -gan, or -gen) is added to a verb to describe a person who does that action frequently. So someone who forgets a lot becomes unutkan (forgetful).
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