Breakdown of Eski patronundan referans almış olan kadın çok yetenekli.
kadın
woman
çok
very
almak
to take, to buy
olmak
to be
patron
boss
eski
old
yetenekli
talented
referans
reference
Questions & Answers about Eski patronundan referans almış olan kadın çok yetenekli.
Why do we use almış olan here instead of just alan?
alan is the standard subject participle, usually meaning "who gets" or "who is getting" (present/general). By combining the past/perfective suffix -mIş with the participle olan (meaning "being"), we explicitly show that the action was completed before the present moment. It translates perfectly to "who has gotten" or "who got".
Could I say referans aldığı kadın to mean "the woman who got a reference"?
No, because the woman is the subject of the action—she is the one receiving the reference. For subjects, we must use an -An form (like alan or almış olan). If you said referans aldığı kadın, you would be using an object relative clause, which would mean "the woman from whom (someone) got a reference."
Let's break down patronundan. How do we know it's her former boss?
The word is formed by patron (boss) + -u (3rd person possessive: his/her) + -n- (buffer) + -dan (from). The possessive suffix -u indicates it is her boss, even though the pronoun onun (her) is omitted. Remember that whenever you add a case marker (like -dan) right after a 3rd person possessive suffix, you must insert the buffer letter -n-.
I thought eski meant "old". Can it be used for people without meaning they are elderly?
Yes! When used with objects, eski means "old" (as opposed to new). However, when paired with jobs, titles, or relationships (like patron, müdür, or sevgili), it means "former" or "ex-". If you actually wanted to say a person was elderly in age, you would use the word yaşlı.
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