Learn about double negatives and how to say "no" in Turkish
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Intro |
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| Michael: How do you say "no" in Turkish? |
| Dilek: And what is a double negative? |
| Michael: At TurkishClass101.com, we hear these questions often. Imagine the following situation: Kerim, a highschool student, has just returned home. Upon seeing him, his mother asks, "Did you meet your friends?" |
| Gülten Kandıralı: Arkadaşlarınla karşılaştın mı? |
| Dialogue |
| Gülten Kandıralı: Arkadaşlarınla karşılaştın mı? |
| Kerim Kandıralı: Hayır, kimseyle karşılaşmadım. |
| Michael: Once more with the English translation. |
| Gülten Kandıralı: Arkadaşlarınla karşılaştın mı? |
| Michael: "Did you meet your friends?" |
| Kerim Kandıralı: Hayır, kimseyle karşılaşmadım. |
| Michael: "No, I didn't meet anyone." |
Lesson focus |
| Michael: In this lesson, you will learn how to say "no" in Turkish and what a "double negative" is. First, let's review how to make a simple negative sentence. The direct equivalent of the English "no" in Turkish is |
| Dilek: Hayır. |
| Michael: In conversations, there's another common way to say "no" |
| Dilek: yok |
| Michael: which means "there is not" or "there are not." Here's an example: |
| Dilek: Elma var mı? |
| Michael: "Do you have any apples?" |
| Dilek: Yok. |
| Michael: which means something like "There aren't any." This word indicates that something does not exist. Most of the time, this word doesn't have any suffix and it's used for answering yes–no questions. Another way to say "no" in Turkish is with the use of the word, |
| Dilek: değil |
| Michael: The previous two words we mentioned |
| Dilek: Hayır and yok |
| Michael: mean "no" and "not existing." respectively. On the other hand, |
| Dilek: değil |
| Michael: is used to say, "not," as in, |
| Dilek: Mutlu değilim. |
| Michael: "I am not happy." Let's break the sentence down; first, we have |
| Dilek: mutlu |
| Michael: meaning "happy." Next is |
| Dilek: değilim |
| Michael: which is made of the negation word |
| Dilek: değil |
| Michael: followed by the suffix |
| Dilek: -im |
| Michael: which indicates "am" |
| Michael: Now, let's talk about double negation. In English, you are not allowed to use two negatives in the same negative sentence. For example, if you've been kept in the dark about something and you're asked about it, you can't say "I don't know nothing," you have to say "I don't know anything." |
| This rule doesn't apply to Turkish, where two or more negatives in the same sentence are possible and intensify the negation. Turkish is a negative concord language, meaning that two negatives, unlike you'd logically think, don't make a positive. |
| In Turkish, you can have other negation words accompanying a negative verb form. Let's see a couple of these alternative negation words and phrases. The first is |
| Dilek: Hiçbir şey |
| Michael: which means "nothing." Let's hear a sample sentence: |
| Dilek: John hiçbir şey yemez. |
| Michael: "John doesn't eat anything." or literally "John doesn't eat nothing." |
| Dilek: [SLOW] John hiçbir şey yemez.[NORMAL] John hiçbir şey yemez. |
| Michael: Next is |
| Dilek: asla |
| Michael: "never." Here is a sample sentence: |
| Dilek: John asla yemez. |
| Michael: "John never eats." |
| Dilek: [SLOW] John asla yemez. [NORMAL] John asla yemez. |
| Michael: In both sentences, the verb was in its negative form |
| Dilek: yemez |
| [Recall 1] |
| Michael: Let's take a closer look at the dialogue. |
| Do you remember how Kerim says "No, I didn't meet anyone?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Dilek as Kerim Kandirali: Hayır, kimseyle karşılaşmadım. |
| Michael: This literally means "No, I didn't meet nobody." but translates as "No, I didn't meet anyone." You can see the main negation word |
| Dilek: karşılaşmadım |
| Michael: meaning "not meet," followed by another negative: |
| Dilek:kimseyle |
| Michael: which means "nobody." |
| [Summary] |
| Michael: In this lesson, we've learned the basic ways to say no in Turkish, as well as how double negatives are formed. We've learned that the direct equivalent of the English "no" in Turkish is seldom used. Instead, the word |
| Dilek: yok |
| Michael: is what's often used to convey a negative response. |
| Expansion |
| Michael: In Turkish, negation in verbs is conveyed with the use of the suffixes -me or -ma, which are added to the verb stem. For instance, |
| Dilek: vermek |
| Michael: or, "to give," becomes |
| Dilek: vermemek |
| Michael: "not to give." And |
| Dilek: almak |
| Michael: or, "to take," in the negative, becomes |
| Dilek: almamak |
| Michael: or, "not to take." Remember that the negative suffix can sound different, in accordance with the vowel harmony rules, which you'll find in the lesson notes. For example: |
| Dilek: ağlamıyor |
| Michael: "Not crying." Here, we have the verb stem |
| Dilek: ağla |
| Michael: for "cry," plus the negative suffix, plus |
| Dilek: -yor |
| Michael: which is the suffix to form the present tense of the verb. Here is another example: |
| Dilek: gülmüyor |
| Michael: which means "not laughing." |
| Expansion |
| Michael: In Turkish, saying "no" or |
| Dilek: yok |
| Michael: is often accompanied with a slight flick of the head backwards, as well as a short click of the tongue. The word can be left out altogether and the other person would still be able to understand what's being conveyed. Another way to say "no" in Turkish is with the widening of the eyes. And, for a more polite way of saying "no," we say, |
| Dilek: maalesef |
| Michael: which means, "unfortunately." In most cases, Turkish people won't express a clear "no" unless they want to deny something strongly. Even then, the word "thanks" or |
| Dilek: sağol |
| Michael: is used. |
Outro |
| Michael: Do you have any more questions? We're here to answer them! |
| Dilek: Hoşçakalın! |
| Michael: See you soon! |
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