Questions & Answers about Dürüst değilse ona güvenmem.
Why is the 'if' ending attached to değil instead of dürüst?
In Turkish, to say 'if someone is not' an adjective, you add the conditional suffix -se or -sa to the negation word değil. So dürüst değilse literally means 'honest if-he-is-not'. You never attach the conditional directly to the adjective when making a negative 'if' statement.
Why does the sentence use ona (to him) instead of onu (him)?
The verb güvenmek (to trust) always requires the dative case, which adds -e or -a to mean 'to' or 'towards'. In Turkish, you do not trust someone; you trust 'to' someone. That is why the pronoun o becomes ona (to him).
What tense is güvenmem?
It is the negative form of the aorist (simple present) tense, used for general statements and habits. The positive form is güvenirim (I trust). For the 'I' form in the negative, the tense marker drops its 'r' and becomes -mem or -mam, making it güvenmem (I do not trust).
How do we know who is not honest if there is no pronoun before dürüst?
The suffix -se in değilse does not have an extra personal ending attached to it. The lack of a personal ending (like -sem for 'I' or -sen for 'you') automatically means it is the third-person singular: 'if he, she, or it is not'.
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