Breakdown of Toplantıyı ertelemekle hiçbir sorunu önlemiyoruz.
toplantı
meeting
ile
with / by / and (linking nouns)
hiçbir
no / not any (determiner)
ertelemek
to postpone
sorun
problem
önlemek
to prevent
Questions & Answers about Toplantıyı ertelemekle hiçbir sorunu önlemiyoruz.
How does ertelemekle mean "by postponing"?
It combines the infinitive ertelemek (to postpone) with the suffix -le (a shortened form of ile, meaning "with" or "by"). In Turkish, attaching ile or -(y)lA to a -mAk infinitive creates a structure that translates to "by doing" an action.
Why does toplantı take the accusative suffix -yı in this sentence?
Even though ertelemekle acts like an adverb here, it is still built from a transitive verb and can take its own direct object. Because we are referring to a specific meeting ("the meeting"), toplantı gets the definite accusative suffix.
There are two words with accusative endings (toplantıyı and sorunu). How do we know which verb they belong to?
In Turkish, objects usually come right before the verb or verbal word they belong to. Toplantıyı (the meeting) is the direct object of the verbal noun ertelemekle (by postponing), and hiçbir sorunu (any problem) is the direct object of the main verb önlemiyoruz (we are not preventing).
Why is the main verb önlemiyoruz negative if hiçbir already means "no" or "none"?
Turkish requires negative matching. Whenever you use a negative word like hiçbir (no / not any), the verb must also be negative. Literally, this says "we are not preventing no problem", which translates to English as "we are not preventing any problem".
What happened to the negative suffix in önlemiyoruz? Shouldn't it be önlemeyoruz?
The verb root is önlemek (to prevent) and the standard negative suffix is -me. However, the present continuous suffix -yor always narrows the vowel right before it. The e in the negative suffix -me changes to an i, giving us önlemiyoruz.
Learn Toplantıyı ertelemekle hiçbir sorunu önlemiyoruz 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