Breakdown of İki haftadır hastayım, bol vitamin almak lazım.
hasta
sick
iki
two
almak
to take, to buy
hafta
week
Questions & Answers about İki haftadır hastayım, bol vitamin almak lazım.
Why does it say almak lazım instead of almam lazım if the speaker is the one who is sick?
Using the plain dictionary form of the verb (almak) before lazım makes it a general statement: "it is necessary to take". The speaker is stating a general truth—when someone is sick, taking vitamins is necessary. If they wanted to say specifically "I need to take", they would use almam lazım.
The English translation says "I have been sick", but hastayım just means "I am sick". Why?
In Turkish, if a situation started in the past and is still happening right now, you just use the present tense. Because the sentence includes the duration (iki haftadır), Turkish speakers understand it as an ongoing condition. Translating it literally to "I am sick for two weeks" sounds wrong in English, but it is perfectly correct in Turkish!
What is the -dır suffix doing at the end of haftadır?
When attached to a time expression, the -dır suffix (which changes based on vowel harmony) means "for" a duration of time leading up to the present. İki hafta means "two weeks", and İki haftadır means "for two weeks".
Why is vitamin singular here when the English says "vitamins"?
In Turkish, when you talk about things as a general category or concept, you usually leave the word singular. After words like bol (plenty or abundant), you do not add the plural suffix.