Learn Turkish: Sadece temiz kokmak için bu kadar parfüm sıkmana gerek yok. - You don't need to spray this much perfume just to smell clean.

Sadece temiz kokmak için bu kadar parfüm sıkmana gerek yok.

You don't need to spray this much perfume just to smell clean.

Breakdown of Sadece temiz kokmak için bu kadar parfüm sıkmana gerek yok.

this

yok

there is not / non-existent

Questions & Answers about Sadece temiz kokmak için bu kadar parfüm sıkmana gerek yok.

Why does sıkmana have the -a (dative) ending at the end?

The phrase gerek yok (there is no need) always takes the dative case. It literally means "there is no need TO your spraying." We build this word with the verb stem sık-, the verbal noun ending -ma, the possessive -n (your), and finally the dative -a (to).

The verb here is kokmak. Does this mean "to smell something" or "to give off a smell"?

Here, kokmak means "to give off a smell" (to smell clean). If you want to say "to smell something" (like sniffing a flower), you would use the verb koklamak instead.

I thought sıkmak meant "to squeeze" or "to bore". Why is it used for perfume?

While sıkmak does mean "to squeeze" (like squeezing a lemon) or "to bore" someone, it is also the standard Turkish verb used for spraying liquids from a bottle or aerosol, such as perfume, deodorant, or cleaning sprays.

Why do we use the standard dictionary form kokmak before için, but the verbal noun sıkmana before gerek yok?

When stating a general purpose, we just use the simple infinitive with için (kokmak için = in order to smell). However, gerek yok requires you to specify exactly WHOSE action isn't needed. To do this, we must turn the verb into a noun using -mA and add a possessive suffix (sık-ma-n = your spraying) so we can grammatically say "there is no need to YOUR spraying."