Breakdown of Bu halının işçiliği çok iyi ama çok pahalı.
bu
this
iyi
good
çok
very
pahalı
expensive
halı
rug
ama
but
işçilik
craftsmanship / workmanship
Questions & Answers about Bu halının işçiliği çok iyi ama çok pahalı.
How is the word işçiliği built?
It starts with the root iş (work/job). We add the profession suffix -çi to get işçi (worker). Then we add the abstract noun suffix -lik to make işçilik (workmanship or craftsmanship). Finally, it takes the 3rd-person possessive suffix -i to link it to the carpet, causing the final k to soften to ğ.
Since this lesson is about "ne kadar ... o kadar", how could we rewrite this sentence to mean "The better the craftsmanship of this carpet, the more expensive it is"?
You would use ne kadar before the first adjective and attach the conditional suffix -(y)se to it, followed by o kadar in the main clause. It would become: Bu halının işçiliği ne kadar iyiyse, o kadar pahalıdır.
Why does halı take the -nın suffix here?
Because it forms a definite noun compound (the genitive-possessive construction). You are talking about the craftsmanship of this specific carpet. Therefore, halı (carpet) takes the genitive suffix -nın (of the), and işçilik takes the possessive suffix -i (its).
The subject of the first clause is the craftsmanship (işçiliği). Does that mean the craftsmanship is what is "very expensive" in the second clause?
Strictly grammatically, the subject from the first half carries over, which would imply the craftsmanship itself is expensive. However, in everyday Turkish, it's perfectly natural to drop the subject in the second clause when context makes it completely obvious that the carpet (halı) is the thing that actually costs a lot of money.
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