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Adjective and noun clauses
In this lesson, we will learn how adjective clauses (for describing a noun using an adjective, like beautiful girl) and noun
clauses (for describing ownership relationships between nouns, like car's door) are formed in Turkish. First, let's start with
the adjective clauses which is simpler and then we'll look at noun clause construction.
Adjective clauses
Constructing adjective clauses in Turkish is very simple and straightforward, almost the same as in English. The only thing
you need to do is to put the correct adjective before the noun.
beautiful girl ==> güzel k1
z
fast car ==> h1
zl1
araba
big house ==> büyük ev
thick book ==> kal1
n kitap
high building ==> yüksek bina
hard lesson ==> zor ders
slow train ==> yava_
tren
If you don't add the adjective before the noun but use it as the main expression in the sentence, the word order changes in
English and it changes the same way in Turkish.
This girl is beautiful. --> Bu k1
z güzel
This car is fast. --> Bu araba h1
zl1
.
Ahmet is tall. --> Ahmet uzun.
I am tall. --> Ben uzunum. (Note the use of verb to be with the adjective)
You are tall. --> Sen uzunsun.
However, note that when you want to say a beautiful girl, the word for a (bir) is placed between the adjective and the
noun.
a small piece ==> küçük bir parça
a greedy man ==> açgözlü bir adam
a blue book ==> mavi bir kitap
a short tree ==> k1
sa bir a
aç
a long movie ==> uzun bir film
Let's now apply what we've learned in the construction of a few sentences.
This is a red rose. ==> Bu k1
rm1
z1
bir gül.
Joe is a quiet kid. ==> Joe sessiz bir çocuk.
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Joe is a very quiet kid. ==> Joe çok sessiz bir çocuk.
Noun clauses
Two nouns form a clause in three different ways in Turkish:
Case1:
The first noun tells what the second noun is made of (i.e. metal box, plastic plate...). In this case, you just write these
nouns in the same order as you do in English without adding any suffixes.
metal box ==> metal kutu
plastic plate ==> plastik tabak
Case2:
The first noun describes the second noun, w1
th any relationship except for the made-of relationship we saw above and the
specific ownership relationship. Examples to this case can be car key, book shelf, garden door, window glass... In this
case, you write the nouns in the same order as English, but add the suffix -i at the end of the second noun. If the noun to
which you append suffix -i already ends with a vowel, you add the fusion consonant -s between these vowels to separate
the two vowels. The third example below demonstrates this case.
car key ==> araba anahtar1

book shelf ==> kitap raf1

garden door ==> bahçe kap1
s1
(note the fusion consonant s here)
window glass ==> pencere cam1

Case 3:
There is a specific ownership relationship between the two nouns (the key of the car, the door of the garden, Kemal's
daughter, the door of the car). In this case, you write the describing noun first and the described noun second as it was
done in the preceding two cases. However, you add the suffix -in to the first noun and the suffix -i to the second noun. If
the noun to which you append the suffix -in already ends with a vowel, you add the fusion consonant n between the two
vowels to separate them. For the suffix -i, the fusion consonant is same as told in the previous case. You add the
consonant s to separate the word ending with a vowel from the suffix -i.
the key of the car ==> araban1
n anahtar1
(note the use of fusion consonant n here for the first noun, araba)
the door of the garden ==> bahçenin kap1
s1

Kemal's daughter ==> Kemalin k1
z1

the door of the car ==> araban1
n kap1
s1
(note the use of fusion consonant n for the first noun and the fusion consonant s
for the second noun)
exception: The word for water, su, is an exception for the fusion consonants in noun clauses. The fusion consonant for
water (su) is always 'y'.
color of water --> su-in renk-i --> suyun rengi (not sunun rengi)
water of Kemal --> Kemal-in su-i --> Kemal'in suyu. (not Kemal'in susu)
(Note that ' is used in Turkish to separate the suffixes from private words that need to be always capitalized,
like Kemal in this case)
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