Question 1

The current lesson covers the değil -mAk ... bile structure. How could we use that here to say 'Let alone firing him, the boss might even promote him!'?

Accepted Answer

You can use the infinitive kovmak right after değil. To say 'Let alone firing him, the boss might even promote him,' you would say: Patron onu değil kovmak, terfi bile ettirebilir. This structure strongly rejects the first idea (firing) to escalate to an even more extreme or unexpected alternative (promoting).

Question 2

Why use the aorist conditional in kovmazsa instead of the future conditional kovmayacaksa, since the result is in the future (batacak)?

Accepted Answer

For standard 'if X happens, Y will happen' scenarios, Turkish typically uses the aorist conditional (-Arsa / -mAzsa) for the 'if' clause. It treats the condition as an open, general possibility. If you used kovmayacaksa, it would mean 'If he is not planning to fire him,' focusing on the boss's current intention rather than the future event itself.

Question 3

I know batmak means 'to sink.' Is it the standard word for a company going bankrupt?

Accepted Answer

Yes! While the official financial term for going bankrupt is iflas etmek, batmak is the most natural and common way to say a business is 'going under' or failing in everyday Turkish.

Question 4

Why does adamı take the accusative -ı ending, but şirket has no ending?

Accepted Answer

O sorumsuz adam (that irresponsible man) is the specific direct object of the verb kovmak (to fire), so it requires the accusative case, becoming adamı. In the second half of the sentence, şirket is the subject—it is the thing doing the sinking (batacak)—so it remains in the nominative (dictionary) form.

Patron o sorumsuz adamı kovmazsa, şirket kesinlikle batacak.

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