The Compliment - "to be" - Negative
The Negative Particle - değil - not to be
The Negative is formed by using the negative particle değil - not. This word is invariable and not subject to vowel harmony rules.
To form the negative of the verb - "to be" - the personal present tense endings are affixed to değil.
The resulting verb not to be is written separately from the verb root - (whereas the positive forms - "to be, am, is, are, etc." - are added to the root word and are subject to both Vowel Harmony and Consonant Mutation.
Some Examples of The Negative of the Compliment - to be
Examples - Verb - to be - Present Tense Negative
- ben değilim - I am not
- zengin değilim - I am not rich
- sen değilsin - you are not
- yorgun değilsin - you are not tired
- o değildir - he is not
- o değil - he is not
- pahalı değildir - it is not dear - or - şişman değil - she is not fat - see below..
- biz değiliz - we are not
- hasta değiliz - we are not ill
- siz değilsiniz - you are not
- yaşlı değilsiniz - you are not old
- onlar değildirler - they are not
- onlar değiller - they are not
- genç değildirler - they are not young - or - çırkın değiller - they are not ugly - see below..
Generally the third person forms using -dİr are not used in day to day conversation. However they are used in Public Signs and Warnings as a re-inforcement. The shortened form should always be used.
However the use of the -dir form is apparent in Public Signs, Official Instructions and in newspaper reports. For these reasons this longer form is included here.
Using The Pronouns - (for emphasis)
The Personal Pronouns are only used for emphasis, as the person of the verb is already apparent from the verb ending. This is the same as many Romance Languages such Spanish and Italian.
- ben zenginim - I AM rich - zenginim - I'm rich
- o hasta değil - HE is not ill - hasta değil - he's not ill
The Verb - to be - Interrogative - Present Tense
Asking Questions
The interrogative particle -mi? is used to form questions. It is placed after the word it affects, and has the positive or negative Present Tense personal endings added - here are the forms showing vowel harmony:
Forming Questions
-
Singular Forms
- am I? - mıyım?, miyim?, muyum?, müyüm?
- are you? - mısın?, misin?, musun?, müsün?
- is he/she/it? - mı?, mi?, mu?, mü?
- is he/she/it? - mıdır?, midir?, mudur?, müdür?
-
Plural Forms
- are we? - mıyız?, miyiz?, muyuz?, müyüz?
- are you? - mısınız?, misiniz?, musunuz?, müsünüz?
- are they? - -lar mı?, -ler mi?, -lar mu?, -ler mü?
- are they? - mıdırlar?, midirler?, mudurlar?, müdürler?
The Positive form of the Interrogative is written separately from the word it affects, but obeys the rules of Vowel Harmony.
The longer forms which end in -dir are more formal and are used in instructions and public notices - they are not usually used in general conversation.
Positive Questions regarding the Present
Examples of Positive Questions
- zengin miyim? - am I rich?
- yorgun musun? - are you tired?
Note that the question part is written separately from the verb - but still obeys vowel harmony rules.
- pahalı mı? - is it dear?
- büyük mü? - is it big?
- hasta mıyız? - are we ill?
- yaşlı mısınız? - are you old?
- gençler mi? - are they young?
- yoksullar mı? - are they poor?
Negative Questions regarding the Present
To form Negative Questions the positive forms are simply added after değil - not, but written separately.
Examples of Negative Questions
- zengin değil miyim? - am I not rich? - aren't I rich?
- pahalı değil mi? - isn't it dear?
- hasta değil miyiz? - aren't we ill?
- genç değiller mi? - aren't they young?
- yorgun değil misin? - aren't you tired?
- büyük değil mi? - isn't it big?
- yaşlı değil misiniz? - aren't you old?
- yoksul değiller mi? - aren't they poor?
The Verb - to be - Negative - Past Tense
To form the Past Tense of not to be the personal past tense endings are added to değil
Examples of Negative - Past Tense
- değildim - I was not
- zengin değildim - I was not rich
- değildin - you were not
- hasta değildin - you were not ill
- değildi - he was not
- yorgun değildi - he/she was not tired
- değildik - we were not
- mutlu değildik - we were not happy
- değildiniz - you were not
- aç değildiniz - you were not hungry
- değildiler - they were not
- yoksul değildiler -they were not poor
The Verb - to be - Interrogative - Past Tense
The Past tense personal endings are added to the question particle -mi and obeys Vowel harmony but is written separately. değil is used for the negative
Examples of Questions in the Past tense
-
Singular Forms
- was I? - mıydım?, miydim?, muydum?, müydüm?
- were you? - mıydın?, miydin?, muydun?, müydün?
- was he/she/it? - mıydı?, miydi?, muydu?, müydü?
-
Plural Forms
- were we? - mıydık?, miydik?, muyduk?, müydük?
- were you? - mıydınız?, miydiniz?, muydunuz?, müydünüz?
- were they? - mıydılar?, miydiler?, muydular?, müydüler?
Note the use of the Buffer Letter -y- in the formation of the Past Tense Questions. This is to keep the final vowel of the question tag -mi by mutating the first vowel of the Past Tense endings -idim etc to -ydim etc.
Positive Questions in the Past tense
Examples of Positive Questions - Past Tense
- acı mıydı? - was it bitter?
- sıcak mıydı? - was it hot?
- hava soğuk muydu? - was the weather cold?
- mutlu muyduk? - were we happy?
- yorgun muydular? - were they tired?
- hasta mıydınız? - were you ill? or have you been ill?
- güzel miydi? - was she beautiful?
- ev büyük müydü? - was it a large house?
Negative Questions regarding the Past
The Negative Question regarding Past Time is formed with değil not, followed by the question forms written separately
Examples of Negative Questions - Past Tense
- açık değil miydi? - wasn't it open?
- mutlu değil miydik? - weren't we happy?
- hava soğuk değil miydi? - wasn't the weather cold?
- zengin değil miydiler? - weren't they rich?
- emin değil miydim? - wasn't I sure?
- Mehmet meşgul değil miydi? - wasn't Mehmet busy?
- yorgun değil miydiniz? - weren't you tired?
- çocuklar soğuk değil miydiler? - weren't the children cold?
Question Tags
The question tags that we use in English: "Isn't it?, Aren't you? , Aren't they?, Can't we?, Weren't they?, Didn't they?. etc" - are all translated by the single tag - değil mi? in Turkish for all Persons and all Tenses.
Examples of Question Tags
- the weather is cold, isn't it? - hava soğuk, değil mi?
- the weather was cold, wasn't it? - hava soğuktu, değil mi?
- you are happy, aren't you? - mutlusunuz, değil mi?
- you will be happy, won't you? - mutlu olacaksın, değil mi?
- they are ill, aren't they - hastadırlar, değil mi?
- he can win, can't he? - o kazanabilir, değil mi?
Further Examples for study
Note that the word - pek - very, hard, firm, quite - is often used as an intensifier especially in negative sentences. The word - çok - very - can also be used as an intensifier in positive sentences although it is a little more direct as - pek - is a more gentle word..
Mutluyum. - I am happy.
İyisiniz. - You are good.
Bozuktur. - It is spoiled, broken, no good.
Kolaydır. - It is easy.
Neşeliyiz. - We are merry.
İngilizlisiniz. - You are English
Zekidirler. - They are clever
Pek/Çok şişmansınız. - You are very fat.
Çok/Pek naziksiniz. - You are very nice.
Mehmet pek hastadır. - Mehmet is quite ill.
Genç değilim. - I am not young.
Hasta değilsiniz. - You are not ill.
Pek aç değilim. - I am not very hungry.
Yüksek değildir. - It is not high.
Deli değiliz. - We are not crazy.
Pek/Çok çabuk değil(dir) - It ıs not very quick/fast.
Pek nazik değilsiniz. - You are not very nice.
Pek zeki değildirler. - They are not very clever.
Zengin miyim? - Am I rich?
Zengin değil miyim? - Am I not rich?
Hasta mısınız? - Are you ill?
Ali bey genç mi(dir)? - Is Ali Bey young?
Kolay mı(dır)? - Is it easy?
Zeki miyiz? - Are we clever?
Zeki değil miyiz? - Aren't we clever?
Deli misin? - Are you crazy?
Arkadaşınız yaşlı mıdır? - Is your friend old?
Hayır,arkadaşım yaşlı değildir. - No, my friend is not old
Evet,arkadaşım gençtir. - Yes, my friend is young.
Mehmet mutlu mudur?. - Is Mehmet happy.
Evet, mutludur. - Yes, he is happy.
Hayır,mutlu değildir. - No, he is not happy.
