Learn Turkish: Kampanyada çalışmayan aday seçimi kaybediyor. - The candidate who does not work in the campaign is losing the election.

It uses the negative subject relative participle, which is the focus of this lesson. We take the verb root çalış (work), add the negative suffix -ma, a buffer -y-, and the participle suffix -an (who). This turns the verb into an adjective describing the candidate (aday).

Why is there a -y- in çalışmayan?

The participle suffix is -an (or -en depending on vowel harmony). Because the negative suffix -ma ends in a vowel, we must use the buffer consonant -y- to connect them smoothly, resulting in -mayan.

Why does seçim have an -i at the end?

The word seçim (election) takes the accusative case ending -i to become seçimi because it is the specific direct object of the verb kaybediyor. The candidate is losing a specific thing: the election.

What is the dictionary form of kaybediyor and why does it change so much?