Learn Turkish: Biri kütüphanede sakız çiğniyorsa görevli kızıyor. - If someone is chewing gum in the library, the attendant is getting angry.

Biri kütüphanede sakız çiğniyorsa görevli kızıyor.

If someone is chewing gum in the library, the attendant is getting angry.

Breakdown of Biri kütüphanede sakız çiğniyorsa görevli kızıyor.

someone / one (of them)

görevli

attendant

Questions & Answers about Biri kütüphanede sakız çiğniyorsa görevli kızıyor.

How is çiğniyorsa formed from the verb çiğnemek (to chew)?

First, we take the root çiğne-. When adding the present continuous suffix -iyor, the final -e in the root narrows to an -i, making it çiğniyor (is chewing). Finally, we add the conditional suffix -sa to make çiğniyorsa (if [someone] is chewing).

Why is there no person suffix at the end of çiğniyorsa?

The subject of this action is biri (someone), which acts like a third-person singular subject (he/she/it). The third-person singular doesn't take an extra personal ending after the -sa suffix. If the sentence was "if you are chewing", it would be çiğniyorsan.

Why doesn't sakız take an accusative ending like sakızı?

Because the gum isn't a specific, known piece of gum. The person is just chewing "gum" in general. In Turkish, we only use the accusative case ending (like -ı or -i) for specific, definite direct objects (like "the gum").

How does the word görevli translate to "attendant"?

The root word is görev, which means "duty" or "task". The suffix -li means "with" or "having". So, görevli literally means "the one with the duty", which is commonly used to mean the attendant, official, or staff member in charge.