Breakdown of Toplu yerlerde kötü davranışlardan kaçınılır.
kötü
bad
yer
place / space / room (unoccupied space, capacity)
kaçınmak
to avoid
davranış
behavior
toplu
public / mass (collective)
Questions & Answers about Toplu yerlerde kötü davranışlardan kaçınılır.
Who is doing the avoiding in this sentence, and how does the verb kaçınılır show that?
This is an example of an impersonal passive. The base verb is kaçınmak (to avoid/refrain). By adding the passive suffix -ıl to make kaçınılmak, and then the aorist (general present tense) suffix -ır, it translates to "one avoids" or "people avoid." In Turkish, using the passive voice on intransitive verbs (verbs without a direct object) is a common way to express general rules, habits, or social norms that apply to everyone.
Why is davranışlardan in the ablative ("from") case instead of being a direct object?
The verb kaçınmak always requires the ablative case (-dan/-den) for the thing being avoided. You can think of it in English as "to refrain from". Therefore, "avoiding bad behaviors" is expressed as kötü davranışlardan kaçınmak.
Is kaçınılır related to the common verb kaçmak (to run away)?
Yes! Kaçmak means "to escape" or "to run away." Adding the reflexive suffix -ın creates kaçınmak, which carries the idea of "holding oneself back from" or "avoiding." Finally, the passive suffix -ıl is added on top of that to make the impersonal passive kaçınılmak used in this sentence.
Doesn't toplu usually mean "tidy" or "gathered together"? How does it translate to "public" here?
Toplu comes from top (ball/mass) and means "collective" or "mass." When applied to people and society, it translates to "public" or "communal." You might already know it from the phrase toplu taşıma (public transportation). So toplu yerler refers to collective or public spaces.
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