Word
Kampta ateş sönüyor, tecrübeli izciler bile sivrisineklerden korkuyor.
Meaning
The fire is going out at the camp; even the experienced scouts are afraid of the mosquitoes.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Kampta ateş sönüyor, tecrübeli izciler bile sivrisineklerden korkuyor.
korkmak
to fear
kamp
camp
bile
even
tecrübeli
experienced
Questions & Answers about Kampta ateş sönüyor, tecrübeli izciler bile sivrisineklerden korkuyor.
Why does bile come after tecrübeli izciler instead of at the beginning of the phrase like the English word 'even'?
In Turkish, the emphatic particle bile always comes immediately after the word or noun phrase it is emphasizing. Because the sentence highlights that 'even the experienced scouts' are afraid, bile must be placed right after the noun phrase tecrübeli izciler.
Why does the word for mosquitoes have the ablative ending in sivrisineklerden instead of just being a direct object?
The verb korkmak (to be afraid) always requires the object of fear to take the ablative case suffix -den or -dan (meaning 'from'). In Turkish, you are literally afraid 'from' something, so sivrisinek takes the plural -ler followed by the ablative -den.
Is sivrisinek a compound word?
Yes! It is made by combining sivri, which means sharp or pointed, and sinek, which means fly. So, a mosquito in Turkish is literally a 'sharp fly'.
Since the subject izciler is plural, why is the verb korkuyor singular instead of korkuyorlar?
When the subject of a sentence refers to plural people, making the verb plural is optional in Turkish. Using the singular form korkuyor for a plural human subject like izciler is very common and sounds completely natural in everyday speech, though korkuyorlar would also be correct.