Breakdown of Çok öksürüyorsun, biraz şurup içmelisin.
çok
very
içmek
to drink
biraz
a little
öksürmek
to cough
şurup
syrup
Questions & Answers about Çok öksürüyorsun, biraz şurup içmelisin.
How is the obligation suffix put together in içmelisin?
You take the verb root iç (drink), add the obligation suffix -meli, and then attach the personal suffix for "you", which is -sin. So it breaks down to: iç + meli + sin.
Why does it use -meli instead of -malı here?
The obligation suffix follows 2-way vowel harmony. Since the vowel in the verb root iç is an i (a front vowel), the suffix takes the front vowel e, becoming -meli. If the root had a back vowel (like a, ı, o, or u), it would become -malı.
Does içmelisin mean "you should drink" or "you must drink"?
The suffix -meli / -malı covers both "should" and "must". Turkish doesn't use two separate grammar structures for these like English does. The exact meaning depends on how strong the context is. Here, it is given as health advice, so "you should drink" is the most natural English translation.
In English we "take" medicine or syrup. Why does Turkish use içmek (to drink) here?
In Turkish, you don't "take" medicine, you "drink" it (içmek). This makes obvious sense for liquid syrup (şurup), but as a heads-up, Turkish speakers also use içmek for taking pills! (They also "drink" soup instead of eating it).
Can you break down the suffixes in öksürüyorsun?
The root is öksür- (to cough). We add the present continuous suffix -üyor (which uses the vowel ü to match the rounded vowels in the root, following 4-way vowel harmony). Finally, we attach the "you" personal suffix -sun. So: öksür + üyor + sun (you are coughing).
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