Breakdown of Yağmur yağıyor, yürüyüş yapmıyorum.
yağmur
rain
yağmak
to rain / to snow
yürüyüş
walk / hike
yürüyüş yapmak
to go for a walk
Questions & Answers about Yağmur yağıyor, yürüyüş yapmıyorum.
How do we get the negative ending in yapmıyorum? I thought the negative suffix was -ma or -me.
You are correct! Usually, the negative suffix is -ma or -me. However, when we add the present continuous suffix -yor, it changes that 'a' or 'e' into a narrow vowel (ı, i, u, ü). For the verb root yap- (to do), the negative suffix -ma turns into -mı to match the vowel harmony of 'a'. Then we add -um for 'I', giving us yapmıyorum (I am not doing).
Doesn't Yağmur yağıyor literally mean 'Rain is raining'?
Exactly! In English, you use the placeholder word 'it' to say 'it is raining'. Turkish doesn't do this. Instead, you pair the noun yağmur (rain) with the verb yağmak (to precipitate or fall from the sky). So, to say 'it is raining', Turkish speakers literally say 'rain is raining'.
Why use yapmıyorum (I am not doing) instead of a verb for 'walking'?
Yürüyüş is a noun that means 'a walk'. To say 'to go for a walk', Turkish uses the set phrase yürüyüş yapmak, which literally means 'to do a walk'. If you just wanted to say 'I am not walking' (describing the physical action of moving your legs), you would use the verb yürümek and say yürümüyorum.
How do we know it means 'I am not going for a walk' if the word ben (I) is missing?
The personal suffix at the very end of the verb tells us who is acting! The -um at the end of yapmıyorum means 'I'. Because the verb ending already makes it completely clear, Turkish speakers usually drop the pronoun ben unless they want to add extra emphasis.
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