2015

CONDITIONAL SENTENCES

IN ENGLISH AND TURKISH

YÜKSEL GÖKNEL

ygoknel@outlook.com

WWW . Y U K S E L G O K N E L . C O M

CONDITIONAL SENTENCES IN ENGLISH AND TURKISH

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Note: The aim of this colored revised version of this article is not to make the pages look colorful, but to show the functional parts of the words in different colors. The following colored lines and words indicate them. For instance:

1. Subject pronouns and subject allomorphs that are attached to main verbs are blue. 2. Verb roots, verb stems and verb frames, and the derivational allomorphs that change noun roots or stems, and adjective roots into verbs are red. 3. Objects, nouns, coordinating conjunctions and the last suffixes that turn words into nouns are black. 4. Adverbs, adverbials, adverbial phrases, prepositions or postpositions, subordinating conjunctions, adverb clauses, and the inflectional allomorphs that change nouns into adverbs are green. 5. Subject and object complements are brown. 6. Adjectives and noun modifiers, and the purple allomorphs attached to nouns and verbs that change them into adjectives, and the “a”, “an”, “the” ariticles are purple. In short, when you see a black allomorph attached to the end of a Turkish or an English word, that word together with the black allomorph is a noun. When you see a green allomorph attached to a word, this word together with the green allomorph is an adverb, and when you see a purple allomorph attached to a word, this word together with the purple allomorph is an adjective or a noun modifier.

In Turkish, the last allomorphs attached to the last parts of the words are the allomorphs that identify whether a word is a verb, an adjective, an adverb, a preposition, or a noun.

CONDITIONAL SENTENCES IN ENGLISH AND TURKISH

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CONDITIONAL SENTENCES

There are two parts in a conditional sentence: “if clause” and the “main

clause”. In an “if clause”, the supposition is either real or unreal. These

real and unreal suppositions in Turkish are also classified according to their

times:

1 (a): present real supposition. 1(b): present unreal supposition. 2 (a):

past real supposition. 2 (b): past unreal supposition.

1 (a): If the supposition is real at present, “verb-[ir, ır, ür, ur, er, ar]-

[se, sa]-[subject allomorph]” verb composition is used in the condition

part, and The Simple Present (Geniş Zaman) is used in the result part of a

conditional sentence. 1 (b): If the supposition is unreal at present, “verb-♫[se,sa]-[subject

allomorph]” verb structure is used in the condition part, and “used to”

(Geniş Zaman’ın Hikâyesi) is used in the result part of a conditional

sentence. 2 (a): If the supposition is real in the past, “verb-[di/y/, dı/y/, dü/y/,

du/y/, ti/y/, tı/y/, tü/y/, tu/y/]-[se, sa]-[subject allomorph]” is used in the

condition part, and “verb-[miş, mış, müş, muş]-[tir, tır, tür, tur]” verb

composition is used in the result part of a conditional sentence.

2 (b): If the supposition is unreal in the past, “verb-[se/y/, sa/y/]-[di, dı]-

[subject allomorph]” verb structure is used in the condition part, and “used to”

(Şimdiki Zaman’ın Hikâyesi) is used in the result part of a conditional sentence.

1 (a): PRESENT REAL SUPPOSITION

In the “if” parts, and in the result parts of conditional sentences in Turkish,

there may be two personal concepts. One of them is in the beginning as a

pronoun, and the other one in the end as a subject allomorph such as:

“(Sen) çalış-ır-sa-an”, and “(sen) başar-ır-sın”

In the example sentences, the pronouns are generally omitted because the

subject allomorphs at the ends of both the condition parts and the main

clause parts are enough to express these pronouns. The subject

allomorphs attached to the condition parts are written in blue, the subject

allomorphs attached to the main clause parts are also written in blue. (Sen) çalış-ır-sa-an / (sen) başar-ır-sın.

CONDITIONAL SENTENCES IN ENGLISH AND TURKISH

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This conditional sentence is like the English sentence “If you work, you

succeed”. In the first part, “sen” means “you”, the “[sa] allomorph means

“if”. The [ir] allomorph is The Simple Present allomorph, and the [an]

allomorph also means “sen”. In the result part of this conditional sentence,

as in the condition part, there are two “you” concepts: “you” and [sın], which

mean the same thing. Therefore, the personal pronouns in the beginnings

of the two parts of a conditional sentence may be ignored unless they are

intentionally stressed.

(Sen) çalış-ır-sa-an (sen) başar-ır-sın.

(ça*lı*şır*san / ba*şa*rır*sın ↷ ) If you work, you succeed.

The same rule is applied to all conditional sentences in Turkish. Clauses

like English clauses are used only in conditional sentences in Turkish.

Consider the following:

Ben çalış-ır-sa-am ben başar-ır-ım. (ça*lı*şır*sam / ba*şa*rı*rım ↷)

Sen çalış-ır-sa-an sen başar-ır-sın. (ça*lı*şır*san / ba*şa*rır*sın ↷)

O çalış-ır-sa o başar-ır. (ça*lı*şır*sa / ba*şa*rır ↷)

Ahmet çalış-ır-sa Ahmet başar-ır. (ah*met / ça*lı*şır*sa / ba*şa*rır ↷)

Biz çalış-ır-sa-ak biz başar-ır-ız. (ça*lı*şır*sak / ba*şa*rı*rız ↷)

Siz çalış-ır-sa-an.ız siz başar-ır-sın.ız. (ça*lı*şır*sa*nız / ba*şa*rır*sı*nız ↷)

Onlar çalış-ır-lar-sa onlar başar-ır-lar. (ça*lı*şır*lar*sa / ba*şa*rır*lar ↷)

However, the English equivalents of the conditional sentences above are as

follows:

I will succeed if I work.

You will succeed if you work.

He will succeed if he works, etc.

Follow the examplas:

(Biz) yağmur yağ-ar-sa (biz) ev-de otur-ur-uz. subj adverb clause of cond subj adverbial verb-subj allomorph

predicate

(yağ*mur / ya*ğar*sa ~ / ev*de / o*tu*ru*ruz ↷)

If it rains, we will stay at home. We will stay at home if it rains.

Çalış-ır-sa-an sınav-ı geç-er-sin.

(ça*lı*şır*san ~ / sı*na*vı / ge*çer*sin ↷)

If you study, you will pass the exam.

CONDITIONAL SENTENCES IN ENGLISH AND TURKISH

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Çok çalış-ır-sa-an başar-a-bil-ir-sin.

(çok / ça*lı*şır*san ~ / ba*şa*ra*bi*lir*sin ↷)

If you work hard, you can succeed.

Onu düşür-ür-se-en kır-ıl-ır. (“Kırıl-ır” means “o kırılır”)

(o*nu / dü*şü*rür*sen ~ / kı*rı*lır ↷)

If you drop it, it will break.

Onu tekrar yap-ar-sa-an tokat-ı yer-sin.

(o*nu / tek*rar / ya*par*san ~ / to*ka*dı / yer*sin ↷)

If you do that again, I will slap you. Bulaşık-lar-ı yıka-ar-sa-an sana ev ödev-i/n/-de yardım et-er-im.

(bu*la*şık*la*rı / yı*kar*san ~/ sa*na / ev / ö*de*vin*de / yar*dım / e*de*rim↷)

If you wash the dishes, I will help you with your homework.

Dikkat-li sür-er-se-en kaza yap-maz-sın.

(dik*kat*li / sü*rer*sen~ / ka*za: / yap*maz*sın ↷)

If you drive carefully, you won’t have an accident.

Hazır-sa-an dışarı-/y/a çık-a-bil-ir-iz.

(ha*zır*san~ / dı*şa*rı / çı*ka*bi*li*riz ↷)

We can go out if you are ready.

Seyret-me-i.yor-sa-an televizyon-u kapat.

(sey*ret*mi*yor*san ~/ te*le*viz*yo*nu / ka*pat ↷)

Turn it off if you are not watching television.

Gel-ir-ler-se memnun ol-ur-uz.

(ge*lir*ler*se ~/ mem*nun / o*lu*ruz ↷)

We will be happy if they come.

(In the third person plural [se] and [ler] allomorphs change places.)

Bu düğme-/y/e bas-ar-sa-an asansör aşağı-/y/a gel-ir.

(bu / düğ*me*ye / ba*sar*san ~ / a*san*sör / a*şa*ğı / ge*lir ↷)

If you press this button, the elevator will come down.

Öğretmen bana bak-ar-sa onun bana bir soru sor-a.cak-ı-/n/ı tahmin et-er-im.

(öğ*ret*men / ba*na / ba*kar*sa~ / o*nun / ba*na / bir / so*ru / so*ra*ca*-

ğı*nı / tah*min / e*de*rim ↷)

If the teacher looks at me, I can guess that he is going to ask me a

question.

CONDITIONAL SENTENCES IN ENGLISH AND TURKISH

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Sokak-lar ıslak-sa dün gece yağmur yağ-mış-tır.

(so*kak*lar / ıs*lak*sa ~/ dün / ge*ce / yağ*mur / yağ*mış*tır ↷)

If the streets are wet, it must have rained last night.

(I’m sure it rained last night becase the streets are wet.) (Sen) (kendin-i) yorgun hisset-i.yor-sa-an, dün gece geç yat-mış-sın-dır.

(yor*gun / his*se*di*yor*san~ / dün / ge*ce / geç / yat*mış*sın*dır ↷)

If you feel tired, you must have gone to bed late last night.

(I am sure you went to bed late, that is why you are tired now.)

Biraz İngilizce bil-i.yor-sa-an, bu cümle-ler-i anla-mış-sın-dır.

(bi*raz / in*gi*liz*ce / bi*li*yor*san ~/ bu / cüm*le*le*ri / an*la*mış*sın*dır ↷)

If you know some English, you must have understood these sentences. In English, there are some conditional sentences whose both parts are

simple Present Tense. These sentences are formed in Turkish as follows:

Buz-u ısıt-ır-sa-an (buz) su-/y/a dönüş-ür.

(bu*zu / ı*sı*tır*san / su*ya / dö*nü*şür ↷)

If you heat ice, it turns to water.

Aç-sa-ak birsey yer-iz.

(aç*sak / bir*sey / ye*riz ↷)

If we are hungry, we eat something. Yourul-ur-sa-ak dinlen-ir-iz.

(yo*ru*lur*sak / din*le*ni*riz ↷)

If we get tired, we rest.

1 (b): PRESENT UNREAL (CONTRARY TO FACT) SUPPOSITION

In the present unreal supposition, the “verb-♫[se, sa]-[subject allomorph]”

verb chain is used in the condition part, and "used to" (şimdiki zaman'ın

hikâyesi) is used in the second part of a conditional sentence: Ev-de ol-sa-am kapı-/y/ı aç-ar-dı - ım.

adv clause of cond def object verb | predicate subj allomorph

(ev*de / ol*sam / ka*pı*yı / a*çar*dım ↷)

If I were at home, I would open the door.

Cevap-ı bil-se-em sana söyle-er-di-im.

(ce*va:*bı / bil*sem /sa*na / söy*ler*dim ↷)

If I knew the answer, I would tell you. (I don't know the answer.)

CONDITIONAL SENTENCES IN ENGLISH AND TURKISH

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Sen-in yer-in-de ol-sa-am böyle davran-maz-dı-ım.

(se*nin / ye*rin*de / ol*sam / böy*le / dav*ran*maz*dım ↷) If I were you, I wouldn’t behave like that. (Advice) Yap-a.cak bir sürü iş-im ol-ma-sa sen-in-le dışarı-/y/a çık-ar-dı-ım.

(ya*pa*cak / bir*sü*rü / i*şim / ol*ma*sa / se*nin*le / dı*şa*rı / çı*kar*dım↷)

If I didn’t have a lot of things to do, I would go out with you.

(Sorry, I have a lot of things to do.) Baba-an-ın yer-i/n/-de ol-sa-am, (ben) (sen-in) araba kullan-ma-an-a izin

ver-mez-di-im. (ba*ba*nın / ye*rin*de / ol*sam / a*ra*ba / kul*lan*ma*na /

i*zin / ver*mez*dim↷) If I were your father, I wouldn’t let you drive. The present unreal suppositions can also be used to express future

disappointment:

Yarın tatil ol-sa piknik-e git-er-di-ik.

(ya*rın / ta:*til / ol*sa / pik*ni*ğe / gi*der*dik ↷)

If tomorrow were a holiday, we would go for a picnic.

2 (a): PAST REAL SUPPOSITION In the past real supposition, the “if clause” is supposed to be “true” and the

main clause is based on this true supposition. The structure of this type if

clause is “verb-[di/y/, dı/y/, dü/y/, du/y/, ti/y/, tı/y/, tü/y/, tu/y/]-[se, sa]-

[subject allomorph]”. The main clause is in The Simple Past form:

(Sen) Paris’e git-ti/y/-se-en (sen) Eyfel Kulesi’/n/i gör-dü - ün. adverb clause of condition definite object verb subj allomorph

predicate

If we want to add certainty to the result part of the conditional sentence

above, we use “verb-[müş]-[subject allomorph]-[tür, tur] verb composition:

Paris’e git-ti/y/-se, Eyfel Kulesi’/n/i gör-müş-tür. (The third person “he”)

(pa*ri*se / git*tiy*se / ey*fel / ku*le*si*ni / gör*müş*tür ↷)

If he went to Paris, he must have seen the Eiffel Tower.

(I think he went to Paris, and certainly he saw The Eiffel Tower.)

Note: If no subject allomorphs are used in the condition or the result parts

of the conditional sentences, they are the third person singular. Yeter-in.ce çok çalış-tı/y/-sa, başar-mış-tır.

(ye*te*rin*ce / ça*lış*tıy*sa / ba*şar*mış*tır ↷)

If he worked hard enough, he must have succeeded.

(I believe he worked hard enough, and consequently he succeeded.)

CONDITIONAL SENTENCES IN ENGLISH AND TURKISH

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Söyle-dik-ler-i doğru idi/y/-se, cezalandır-ıl-mış ol.a.maz-lar.

(söy*le*dik*le*ri / doğ*ru / i*diy*se / ce*za:*lan*dı*rıl*mış / o*la*maz*lar ↷)

If what they said was true, they can’t have been punished.

Kafes-i açık bırak-tı/y/-sa-an, kuş uç-up git-miş-tir.

(ka*fe*si / a*çık / bı*rak*tıy*san / kuş / u*çup / git*miş*tir ↷)

If you left the cage open, the bird must have flown away.

İş-i-/n/i bitir-di/y/-se ev-e git-miş-tir. (Third person singular “he”)

(i*şi*ni / bi*tir*diy*se / e*ve / git*miş*tir ↷)

If he finished his work, he must have gone home.

Araba-/s/ı var-sa Bodrum-a git-miş-tir.

(a*ra*ba*sı / var*sa / bod*du*ma / git*miş*tir ↷)

If he had a car, he must have gone to Bodrum.

2 (b): PAST UNREAL (CONTRARY TO FACT) SUPPOSITION To form an unreal past supposition, “verb-[se/y/-di, sa/y/-dı]-[subject

allomorph]” verb chain is used in the if part of a conditional sentence, and

the (Şimdiki Zaman'ın Hikâyesi) “used to” is used in the second part of it.

Compare the following:

Çalış-sa/y/-dı-ın sınav-ı geç-er-di - in adv clause of cond def object verb | predicate subj allomorph

If you had studied, you wold have passed the examination.

(You did not study, so you did not pass the examination.)

Yarın tatil ol-sa sinema-/y/a git-er-di-ik.

(ya*rın / ta:*til / ol*sa / si*ne*ma*ya / gi*der*dik ↷)

If tomorrow were a holiday, we would go to the cinema. (Unreal) Bugün tatil ol-sa sinema-/y/a git-er-di-ik.

(bu*gün / ta:*til /ol*sa / si*ne*ma*ya / gi*der*dik ↷)

If today were a holiday, we would go to the cinema. (Unreal)

Dün tatil ol-sa/y/-dı sinema-/y/a git-er-di-ik.

(dün / ta:*til / ol*say*dı~ / si*ne*ma*ya / gi*der*dik ↷) (Unreal)

If yesterday had been a holiday, we would have gone to the cinema.

(Yesterday was not a holiday, so we didn’t go.)

Dün onu gör-se/y/-di-im, onun-la konuş-ur-du-um.

(dün / o*nu / gör*sey*dim / o*nun*la / ko*nu*şur*dum ↷)

If I had seen him yesterday, I would have talked to him.

(I didn’t see him, so I didn’t talk to him.)

CONDITIONAL SENTENCES IN ENGLISH AND TURKISH

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Kafes-i açık bırak-ma-sa/y/-dı-ın, kuş uç-up git-mez-di.

(ka*fe*si / a*çık / bı*rak*ma*say*dın / kuş / u*çup / git*mez*di ↷)

If you hadn’t left the cage open, the bird wouldn’t have flown away.

(You left the cage open, so the bird flew away.)

Birkaç tane daha problem çöz-se/y/-di-im, daha iyi bir not al-ır-dı-ım.

(bir*kaç / ta:*ne / da*ha / prob*lem / çöz*sey*dim / da*ha / i*yi / bir / not /

a*lır*dım ↷)

If I had solved a few more problems, I would have got a better grade.

(I couldn’t solve some more problems, and so I couldn’t get a better grade.)

Çabucak dur-ma-sa/y/-dı-ım, adam fena halde yara-lan-a.bil-ir-di.

(ça*bu*cak / dur*ma*say*dım / a*dam / fe*na: / hal*de / ya*ra*la*na*bi*lir*di ↷)

If I hadn’t stopped suddenly, the man might have been badly injured.

Biz-im kaleci daha dikkat-li oyna-sa/y/-dı, maç-ı kaybet-mez-di-ik.

(bi*zim / ka*le*ci / da*ha / dik*kat*li / oy*na*say*dı ~ / ma*çı /

kay*bet*mez*dik ↷)

If our goalkeeper had played more carefully, we wouldn’t have lost the

match. (I regret to say that we lost it.)

O araba o kadar pahalı ol-ma-sa/y/-dı, onu (satın) al-ır-dı-ım.

(o / a*ra*ba / o / ka*dar / pa*ha*lı / ol*ma*say*dı / o*nu / a*lır*dım ↷)

If that car hadn’t been so expensive, I would have bought it.

İsviçre’de o kadar çok sağanak-a yakalan-ma-sa/y/-dı-ık, muhteşem

manzara-/n/ın zevk-ı-/n/e var-ır-dı-ık.

(is*viç*re*de / o / ka*dar / çok / sa*ğa*na*ğa / ya*ka*lan*ma*say*dık /

muh*te*şem / man*za*ra*nın / zev*kı*ne / va*rır*dık ↷)

If we hadn’t had so many thunderstorms in Switzerland, we would have

enjoyed the wonderful scenery.

İste-se/y/-di gel-ir-di.

(is*te*sey*di / ge*lir*di⃕ )

If he had wanted, he would have come.

Sometimes the “if” part of a conditional sentence may begin with an unreal

past supposition, but the main clause ends with an unreal present tense:

Dün bitir-se/y/-di-in, bugün onlar-ı postala-/y/a-bil-ir-di-ik.

(dün / bi*tir*sey*din / bu*gün / on*la*rı / pos*ta*la*ya*bi*lir*dik ↷)

If you had finished yesterday, we could post them today.