Breakdown of Bir tercüman gibi işaret dili konuşuyor.
bir
a / an
konuşmak
to speak / to talk
gibi
like (similar to)
dil
language
Questions & Answers about Bir tercüman gibi işaret dili konuşuyor.
Why is it "işaret dili" and not just "işaret dil"?
İşaret dili is a noun compound meaning "sign language". In Turkish, when you combine two nouns to create a specific new concept, the second noun takes a possessive suffix. Here, dil (language) gets the suffix -i to link it to işaret (sign).
Why does "gibi" come after "bir tercüman"?
Unlike the English word "like", which comes before the noun (like an interpreter), the Turkish word gibi is a postposition. This means it always comes right after the noun it refers to, forming bir tercüman gibi.
Could we use the simple present tense "konuşur" here instead of "konuşuyor"?
Yes, konuşur (speaks) is grammatically correct for a general fact. However, Turkish speakers very often use the present continuous tense with -ıyor for habits and skills that are currently true in the person's life, so konuşuyor is completely natural here to mean "she speaks".