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Lesson 131: Birbiri and its variations
In Turkish we say birbiri instead of "each other" or "one another". It is mostly used when the verb that is used cannot take the reciprocal suffix, or when it gets a whole new meaning if it does. And it mostly goes together with ile.
Since there are at least two people present when you use birbiri, there are no conjugations for singulars.
| Conjugation of birbiri | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| First person | - | birbirimiz |
| Second person | - | birbiriniz |
| Third person | - | birbirleri |
Let's consider the verb yapmak. One would expect that doing something reciprocally would be yapışmak, however yapışmak means to stick, to adhere to something. Therefore we have to use birbirimiz in the following sentence, as we cannot use the word yapışmak:
| Röportajı birbirimiz ile yaptık. | We interviewed each other. |
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| to stick, to adhere to | yapışmak |
| each other, one another | birbiri |
| to chase, to pursue | kovalamak |
| The dogs are chasing each other. | Köpekler birbirlerini kovalıyorlar. |
| [Apparently] Romeo and Juliet loved each other very much. | Romeo ve Jüliet birbirlerini çok sevmiş. |
| In which lesson did you work with each other? | Hangi derste birbirinizle çalıştınız? |
| interview | röportaj |
| to interview | röportaj yapmak |
| We interviewed each other. | Röportajı birbirimiz ile yaptık. |
| Apologise to each other right now! | Hemen birbirinizden özür dileyin! |
| blind | kör |
| deaf | sağır |
| to host, to receive, to entertain, to accomodate | ağırlamak |
| [Lit.]The blind and the deaf host each other.TURKISH PROVERB | Körler sağırlar birbirlerini ağırlar. |
| [Apparently] Kamil and his paternal grandmother washed each other. | Kamil ve babaannesi birbirlerini yıkamışlar. |
| to get married | evlenmek |
| You are siblings, you can't marry each other! | Siz kardeşsiniz, birbirinizle evlenemezsiniz! |
| to fall in love | aşık olmak |
| hero | kahraman |
| protagonist | başkahraman |
| enemy, foe | düşman |
| antagonist | başdüşman |
| At the end of this movie, the protagonist and the antagonist fall in love with each other. | Bu filmin sonunda, başkahraman ve başdüşman birbirlerine aşık oluyor. |
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