Breakdown of Benim adayım yalan söylemeyen dürüst bir siyasetçi.
bir
a / an
ben
I
söylemek
to say, to sing
yalan
lie (untruth)
dürüst
honest
aday
candidate
siyasetçi
politician
Questions & Answers about Benim adayım yalan söylemeyen dürüst bir siyasetçi.
How is the word söylemeyen (who does not tell) formed in this sentence?
It comes from the verb söylemek (to tell/say). First, we add the negative suffix -me to get söyleme (don't tell). Then we add the relative participle -en (who/which). Because -me ends in a vowel and -en starts with one, we use the buffer letter -y- to connect them smoothly, resulting in söyle-me-y-en.
Why is the phrase yalan söylemeyen placed at the beginning of the description?
In Turkish, modifying clauses like yalan söylemeyen act just like adjectives, and adjectives always go before the noun they describe. Here, both dürüst (honest) and yalan söylemeyen (who doesn't tell lies) are describing the noun siyasetçi (politician), so they stack up in front of it.
Where is the verb "is" in this sentence?
There isn't one! In Turkish, you can say "A is B" simply by placing the subject (Benim adayım) next to the description (yalan söylemeyen dürüst bir siyasetçi). You could add the "to be" suffix -dir at the very end (siyasetçidir) to sound more formal or factual, but it is entirely normal to leave it off.
How does the word siyasetçi (politician) get its meaning?
It is built from the noun siyaset (politics) and the profession suffix -çi. Just like the English endings "-er" or "-ist" (like in "art" to "artist"), adding -cı/-ci/-cu/-cü (or their voiceless forms -çı/-çi/-çu/-çü) to a noun creates a word for a person who does that job or makes that thing.
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