Breakdown of Bütün çabalarımıza rağmen problem bitmiyor.
problem
problem
bitmek
to finish / to end
bütün
all, whole
rağmen
despite / in spite of
Questions & Answers about Bütün çabalarımıza rağmen problem bitmiyor.
Why is there an -a at the end of çabalarımıza?
The postposition rağmen (despite) requires the word before it to take the dative case (the -e or -a ending). Because of this rule, we attach the dative suffix -a to çabalarımız (our efforts).
Can you break down the suffixes attached to the word çabalarımıza?
Yes! It starts with the noun root çaba (effort). Next is the plural suffix -lar making it çabalar (efforts). Then comes the first-person plural possessive -ımız making it çabalarımız (our efforts). Finally, the dative suffix -a is added to link it with rağmen.
Why is the negative part of bitmiyor spelled with an -mi instead of -me?
This happens because of a rule called vowel narrowing. The normal negative suffix for bitmek is indeed -me. However, when the present continuous suffix -yor is added right after an -a or -e, that vowel narrows. Here, the e in -me narrows to i, giving us bitmiyor.
Could we use bitirmiyor instead of bitmiyor in this sentence?