Breakdown of Arkeologlar hazine arıyorlar ama tek bir çömlek bile bulmayabilirler.
bir
a / an
bulmak
to find
aramak
to look for, to call
ama
but
bile
even
tek
single, sole
arkeolog
archaeologist
hazine
treasure
çömlek
pottery
Questions & Answers about Arkeologlar hazine arıyorlar ama tek bir çömlek bile bulmayabilirler.
How is bulmayabilirler built to mean "they might not find"?
It combines the verb root bul (find), the negative suffix ma, the possibility suffix yabil, the aorist tense ir, and the plural ler. When the negative comes before the possibility suffix (bul-ma-yabil-ir-ler), it means "might not".
How would this verb change if we wanted to say they "cannot find" instead of "might not find"?
You would use the negative ability form, which looks very different: bulamazlar (they cannot find). Remember, to say "might not," the regular negative ma or me must come right before the possibility suffix, as seen in bulmayabilirler.
Why isn't hazine (treasure) written as hazineyi with the specific accusative suffix?
Because the archaeologists are looking for treasure in a general sense, rather than one specific, previously mentioned treasure. When a direct object is non-specific, it drops the accusative case suffix.
How do tek bir and bile work together here?
tek bir means "a single" and bile means "even." By placing the noun between them (tek bir çömlek bile), you create the highly emphatic meaning "not even a single pot."
Why is the verb for looking arıyorlar and not arayorlar?
The root of the verb is ara- (to look for / to search). When a Turkish verb ends in a or e and is followed by the continuous -yor suffix, that final vowel narrows. Here, the a changes to ı, resulting in arıyorlar.
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