Question 1

Why is the subject bu muamele at the very end of the sentence instead of the beginning?

Accepted Answer

This is a classic example of a devrik cümle (inverted sentence). The standard order would be Bu muamele gerçekten çekilmez. Moving the subject to the end pushes the main action or feeling (çekilmez) to the front. In spoken Turkish, this often happens when the speaker is expressing strong emotion or frustration, treating the subject almost as an afterthought.

Question 2

How does a negative verb ending in çekilmez translate to the adjective "unbearable"?

Accepted Answer

You are looking at the negative aorist suffix -mez. The root is çekmek (to bear/endure), made passive with -il to form çekilmek (to be endured). So, çekilmez literally means "it is not endured" or "it cannot be endured." In Turkish, this negative aorist form frequently crosses over to become a fixed adjective, much like adding "-un...able" in English.

Question 3

I originally learned çekmek as "to pull" or "to take a photo". Is it normally used to mean "endure"?

Accepted Answer

Yes, in B2-level Turkish and beyond, çekmek is very commonly used for enduring, suffering, or bearing something. You will often see it in set phrases like acı çekmek (to suffer pain) or çile çekmek (to endure hardship). Here, the bad treatment is something the speaker is forced to "bear".

Question 4

Would it sound unnatural if I used the standard word order for this sentence instead?

Accepted Answer

Not at all! Bu muamele gerçekten çekilmez is perfectly natural and grammatically correct. However, the standard order sounds slightly more like a calm, factual observation. The inverted version sounds much more conversational and expressive, like you are venting your frustration out loud.

Gerçekten çekilmez bu muamele.

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