Questions & Answers about Katili asla affetmem.
How do we get the ending -mem in affetmem, and why isn't there a tense marker like in other aorist verbs?
The verb is affetmek (to forgive). The negative aorist (simple present) tense is irregular for the "I" and "we" forms. Instead of using a negative suffix followed by an aorist marker (like affetmez for "he/she doesn't forgive"), the 1st person singular just uses -mem or -mam. Because the last vowel in affet- is "e", it takes -mem, giving us affetmem (I do not / will not forgive).
Asla means "never", so why is the verb affetmem also negative? Doesn't that make a double negative?
Why does the sentence say katili instead of just katil?
The word katil means "murderer". In this sentence, the murderer is a specific person receiving the action of the verb (being forgiven). Because it is a specific direct object, it must take the accusative case suffix. The word ends in a consonant and its last vowel is "i", so we add -i to make it katili (the murderer).
The word for forgiveness is "af" and the helper verb is "etmek". Why are there two "f"s in affetmem?
Affetmek is a compound verb made by joining the noun af (pardon/forgiveness) with the helper verb etmek (to do). When short loanwords like af combine with a suffix or helper verb that starts with a vowel, their final consonant often doubles to make pronunciation smoother. That is why af + etmek becomes affetmek.
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