Breakdown of Hemen ilacı iç, yoksa hasta kalırsın.
hasta
sick
içmek
to drink
kalmak
to stay / to be left / to remain (in a state)
ilaç
medicine
Questions & Answers about Hemen ilacı iç, yoksa hasta kalırsın.
How does yoksa mean "otherwise" here? I thought yok means "there isn't".
You are right! yoksa is a combination of yok (there is not) and the conditional ending -sa (if). Literally, it means "if not" or "if it does not happen". In Turkish, this is the standard conjunction used to mean "otherwise" or "or else" when expressing a consequence or warning.
Why does the sentence use iç (drink) for medicine? Shouldn't it be the Turkish word for "take"?
In English you "take" medicine, but in Turkish you always "drink" it using the verb içmek. This applies to all forms of medicine that you swallow, including solid pills and capsules, not just liquid syrups.
Why is it ilacı instead of ilaç? And why did the letter "ç" change to "c"?
The word has the specific direct object ending (the accusative case) -ı because you are telling someone to take a specific medicine ("the medicine"). When you add a vowel ending to certain words ending in ç, like ilaç, the consonant softens to c to make pronunciation smoother, making it ilacı.
Why does the sentence end with kalırsın (aorist tense) instead of the future tense kalacaksın?
While the future tense kalacaksın (you will stay) would also be understood, the aorist tense (-ır-) is very common for stating natural consequences or strong predictions. Here, staying sick is the natural, expected consequence of not taking the medicine, making the aorist a very natural choice for a Turkish speaker.