Breakdown of İster uzman ol ister yeni bir öğrenci, bu okula kaydolabilirsin.
bu
this
bir
a / an
öğrenci
student
yeni
new
okul
school
olmak
to be
uzman
expert
kaydolmak
to enroll
ister ... ister ...
whether ... or ...
Questions & Answers about İster uzman ol ister yeni bir öğrenci, bu okula kaydolabilirsin.
Does ister literally mean "he/she wants" here?
Literally, yes! İster is the aorist (broad time) form of istemek (to want). However, when repeated as ister ... ister ..., it acts as a fixed phrase meaning "whether ... or ...". You can think of the literal logic as: "Let it want to be an expert, let it want to be a student..."
Why is there an ol (be) after uzman, but not after öğrenci?
In the ister ... ister ... structure, verbs are often used in the imperative (command) form, like ol (be). The full thought is ister uzman ol, ister yeni bir öğrenci ol. However, Turkish often drops the second verb to avoid repetition when it's exactly the same.
How does the noun kayıt turn into kaydolabilirsin?
It combines with the helper verb olmak (to be/become). When they merge, the "ı" in kayıt drops out and the "t" softens to "d", making kaydol-. Then we add the ability suffix -abil, the aorist tense -ir, and the "you" ending -sin: kayd-ol-abil-ir-sin (you can enroll).
Why does okul have the -a ending in bu okula?
The verb kaydolmak (to enroll / to register) requires the dative case (-e/-a) to show the direction or place you are registering into. Therefore, bu okul (this school) becomes bu okula (to this school).
Could I say bir yeni öğrenci instead of yeni bir öğrenci?
It would sound unnatural. In Turkish, when a noun has both a descriptive adjective (yeni) and the indefinite article (bir), the standard word order is Adjective + bir + Noun.
Learn İster uzman ol ister yeni bir öğrenci, bu okula kaydolabilirsin 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