Breakdown of Nezlesin, kendine çok iyi bakmalısın.
iyi
good
çok
very
bakmak
to look
kendi
self
nezle
cold (illness)
Questions & Answers about Nezlesin, kendine çok iyi bakmalısın.
How is the obligation suffix used in the word bakmalısın?
It breaks down into three parts: the verb root bak (look/care) + the obligation suffix -malı (must/should) + the personal suffix -sın (you). Because the vowel in bak is a back vowel (a), we use -malı instead of -meli to follow 2-way vowel harmony.
Why does nezlesin translate to "you have a cold" when the -sin ending means "you are"?
You are exactly right—literally, this translates to "you are a cold"! In Turkish, you generally don't "have" a cold using a verb for possession. Instead, you attach the personal "to be" suffixes directly to the noun nezle (cold). So, nezleyim means "I have a cold" and nezlesin means "you have a cold."
Why is there an -e ending on kendine (yourself)?
The word kendi means "self", and the -n makes it "your self". The final -e is the dative case (meaning "to" or "towards"). The verb bakmak requires the dative case for whatever you are looking at or taking care of. So grammatically, you are saying "look very well to yourself."
I thought bakmak meant "to look". How does it mean "take care of" here?
While bakmak primarily means "to look", it is also the standard verb for looking after, tending to, or taking care of someone or something. The phrase kendine iyi bak is an extremely common Turkish expression meaning "take care of yourself", frequently used when saying goodbye or wishing a sick person well.
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