Breakdown of Ne konuşmaktan çekiniyorum ne de hata yapmaktan ürküyorum.
konuşmak
to speak / to talk
ne... ne
neither (in 'ne... ne...' neither... nor)
çekinmek
to shy away / to hesitate
ürkmek
to be spooked / to shy away (startle)
hata yapmak
to make a mistake
Questions & Answers about Ne konuşmaktan çekiniyorum ne de hata yapmaktan ürküyorum.
Why do we use -maktan (infinitive + ablative) for speaking and making mistakes instead of just the infinitive -mak?
The verbs çekinmek (to hesitate or shy away) and ürkmek (to be spooked or scared) both require the ablative case (-dAn) to indicate the thing causing the feeling. In Turkish, you literally say you hesitate 'from speaking' (konuşmaktan) and are spooked 'from making mistakes' (hata yapmaktan).
Why are the verbs çekiniyorum and ürküyorum in the positive form if the translation is negative?
The ne ... ne (de) ... (neither ... nor) structure automatically gives the sentence a negative meaning. In standard Turkish, you don't use a negative verb with this structure because it would create an unnatural double negative. Therefore, the main verbs must stay in their positive forms.
What does the de do in ne de? Can I leave it out?
Yes, you can leave it out. The de simply adds emphasis to the second part of the sentence, acting a bit like 'nor even.' Saying ne ... ne de ... is a very natural and common way to reinforce the 'nor' in Turkish.
Why is the ablative ending spelled with a 't' in konuşmaktan and yapmaktan?
This is a quick reminder of consonant mutation. The infinitive suffix -mak ends with 'k', which is a voiceless consonant. When you add the ablative suffix (normally -dan or -den), the 'd' hardens into a 't' to match the harshness of the 'k', resulting in -maktan.
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