Breakdown of Ustalık ne kadar iyiyse, malın bedeli o kadar artar.
o
that / he / she / it
ne
what
iyi
good
kadar
as ... as; until, up to
artmak
to increase
mal
goods / merchandise
ustalık
mastery / skill (expertise, craftsmanship)
bedel
price / value / cost (equivalent, price paid)
Questions & Answers about Ustalık ne kadar iyiyse, malın bedeli o kadar artar.
How do ne kadar and o kadar create the "The better... the more..." meaning here?
In Turkish, proportional comparisons like "The more X, the more Y" are formed using ne kadar (how much) in the first clause and o kadar (that much) in the second clause. The first clause must also take a conditional suffix. Literally, the structure translates to: "However much the mastery is good, that much the price increases."
Why is the conditional suffix -se attached directly to the adjective in iyiyse?
The conditional suffix can attach directly to adjectives and nouns to mean "if it is [adjective/noun]". Because iyi ends in a vowel, it requires the buffer consonant -y-, becoming iyiyse. The ne kadar ... o kadar structure always requires this conditional form in the first half to establish the condition ("if the mastery is however good...").
Why does the sentence use the aorist tense artar instead of the present continuous artıyor?
The aorist tense (indicated by the -ar suffix here) is used to express general truths, habits, or universally applicable rules. Because this sentence states a general economic principle rather than an action happening right at this moment, the aorist is the most natural choice.
What is the grammatical function of the suffixes in malın bedeli?
This is a definite noun compound (a genitive-possessive construction), which you learned earlier. The -ın on mal makes it "of the goods" (genitive), and the -i on bedel (price) marks it as belonging to the goods (possessive). Together, malın bedeli explicitly means "the price of the goods".
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