Breakdown of Bana inandırıcı olmak için kurnazca davranıyor gibi geldi.
ben
I
olmak
to be
için
for
gibi
like (similar to)
davranmak
to behave
gibi gelmek
to seem / to feel like (to someone)
inandırıcı
convincing / believable
kurnazca
slyly / cunningly
Questions & Answers about Bana inandırıcı olmak için kurnazca davranıyor gibi geldi.
Why do we use the present tense "davranıyor" if the English translation is in the past ("was acting") and the main verb "geldi" is in the past?
When expressing an impression with the gibi gelmek structure, the embedded clause keeps the tense of the original observation. At the exact time this happened, your thought was, "He is acting slyly" (kurnazca davranıyor). The main verb geldi puts the overall impression into the past. English shifts both verbs to the past tense ("seemed" and "was acting"), but Turkish keeps the inner observation in the present tense.
Why is "bana" placed at the very beginning of the sentence?
In the gibi gelmek structure, the dative pronoun like bana (to me) tells us who is receiving the impression. By placing bana at the very beginning and gibi geldi at the very end, Turkish creates a neat frame around the entire observation: Bana [inandırıcı olmak için kurnazca davranıyor] gibi geldi. This bracketed word order is the most natural way to structure this type of sentence.
How does the word "inandırıcı" (convincing) break down?
It is built in three layers. It starts with the root verb inanmak (to believe). We add the causative suffix -dır to make inandırmak (to make someone believe / to convince). Finally, the suffix -ıcı turns that verb into an adjective, creating inandırıcı (convincing or persuasive).
Could I just say "kurnaz davranıyor" instead of "kurnazca davranıyor"?
You could, and native speakers often use bare adjectives as adverbs. However, kurnazca is much more precise. Adding the -ca / -ce suffix to an adjective like kurnaz (sly / cunning) turns it explicitly into an adverb of manner (slyly). Here, it emphasizes the specific manner in which he was behaving.
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