Conditional Flashcards
What are the conditional suffixes and how are they used?
-sA for verbs, appears where -DI would
-(y)sA can be attached to both
verbs and nominals, including nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and the existentials var and
yok.
k-paradigm of person agreement
How is -sA used?
-sA is attached to the verb directly and has an irrealis interpretation, i.e., the event does not
or cannot happen or is not true
In this kind of conditional, there are some restrictions on the tense of the verb in the nonconditional clause. It is, usually, the aorist. The future -(y)AcAK is also possible marginally.
But other tense markers cannot be used.
A past tense marker can follow -sA without any change in the meaning. In other words, in
such structures -sA and -sAydI have the same meaning. The use of -(y)DI emphasizes the
conditional meaning (the impossibility of the situation
Note that when -(y)DI is used in the first clause after -sA, it should be used in the second
clause as well.
‘If I spoke French, I could look for a job in France (but I do not speak French).’
Fransızca bilsem, Fransa’da iş arayabilirim (ama bilmiyorum).
If I knew French, I’d look for a job in France.
If I spoke French, I’d look for a job in France.
Fransızca bilsem, Fransa’da iş ararım.
Fransızca bilsem, Fransa’da iş arayacağım
If I knew French, I’d look for a job in France.
Fransızca bilsem, Fransa’da iş ararım.
If I spoke French, I would have looked for work in France.
Fransızca bilseydim, Fransa’da iş arardım.
If you had learnt French last year, you could now look for work in France. inf
Geçen yıl Fransızca öğrenseydin, şimdi Fransa’da is¸ arayabilirdin.
If I’d seen your sister yesterday, I would’ve given her your books. inf
Dün ablanı görseydim, kitaplarını ona verecektim.
Were I Superman Id help you, but I’m not.
Were I Superman Id have helped you, but I’m not.
Had I been Superman Id have helped you, but I’m not.
Süpermen olsam size yardım ederim, ama değilim.
Süpermen olsam size yardım ederdim, ama değilim/ama değildim.
Süpermen olsaydim size yardım ederdim, ama değilim/ama değildim.
(You cannot say ‘Süpermen olsaydım size yardım ederim, . . . .’) ¨
I wish my sister would come to us.
Keşke ablam bize gelse.
I wish I could dance better. ¨
Keşke daha güzel dans edebilsem. ¨
I wish I could go to Paris for New Year’s.
Keşke yılbaşında Paris’e gidebilsem.
I wish it wouldn’t rain.
Keşke yağmur yağmasa.
How is -sA used
-sA is not attached to nominals directly. This is a property of the tense, aspect and modality
markers that occur in the same slot as -sA. Rather, ol- is added to the structure, and -sA is
attached to it
In the case of the existential sentences, var and yok are replaced with ol- and the conditional
suffix is attached to ol-
An important property of this type of conditional is the ‘wish’ interpretation
Due to this special
interpretation of -sA, it can be used with iyi olur ‘would be good’ or fena olmaz ‘would not
be bad’ that express a wish.
Aynur’s voice is not beautiful. If it was beautiful, she would have taken a better place ın the competıtıon
Aynur’un sesi güzel değil. Güzel olsa(ydı) yarışmada daha iyi bir derece alır(dı).
If I were rich, I would travel all over the world (but I am not).
Zengin olsam bütün dünyayı dolaşırım (ama değilim).
I haven’t got any change. If I had change, I’d tip you.
Bozuk param yok. Bozuk param olsa bahşiş veririm.
There are no passengers at the bus stop. If there were passengers at the bus stop, the bus would stop and pick them up.
Durakta hiç yolcu yok. Durakta yolcu olsa, otobüs durup yolcuları alır.
Were you to get up a lıttle earlıer ın the mornıng ıt would be good
Sabah biraz daha erken kalksan iyi olur.
were they to speak wıth a louder voıce ıt would be no bad thıng
Biraz daha yüksek sesle konuşsalar fena olmaz.
If I call
arasam
If I wait
beklesem
If I knew
bilsem
if you dance ınf
dans etsen