Breakdown of O kritik göstergeye dikkat etmediği sürece gemi ilerlemez.
o
that / he / she / it
gemi
ship
ilerlemek
to advance
dikkat etmek
to pay attention
sürece
as long as
gösterge
gauge
kritik
critical
Questions & Answers about O kritik göstergeye dikkat etmediği sürece gemi ilerlemez.
How do we form the negative "as long as he does not" in this structure?
You add the negative suffix -me or -ma directly to the verb stem, before the -dik suffix. Here, dikkat et (pay attention) becomes dikkat etme. Then you add -diği (the -dik suffix softened, plus the 3rd person possessive -i) followed by sürece. Together, dikkat etmediği sürece means "as long as he/she does not pay attention".
How do we know it is "he" who does not pay attention, but "the ship" that does not advance?
The sentence has two different subjects. The main subject is gemi (the ship), which acts on the main verb ilerlemez. The subject of the first action is marked by the possessive suffix -i on etmediği. This suffix tells us a third party (he, she, or it) is the one ignoring the gauge.
Why does gösterge (gauge/indicator) take the -(y)e suffix here?
The verb phrase dikkat etmek (to pay attention) always requires the dative case because you pay attention "to" something in Turkish. Therefore, gösterge gets the dative suffix -ye, becoming göstergeye (to the gauge).
Why use the aorist tense ilerlemez instead of the present continuous ilerlemiyor?
The aorist tense (the broad tense) is used here because it states a general rule, a mechanical fact, or a predictable outcome: under these conditions, the ship will not move. If you used ilerlemiyor, it would mean the ship is simply not advancing right at this very second.
Learn O kritik göstergeye dikkat etmediği sürece gemi ilerlemez and more in Turkish
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free