Originally posted by: Ektoraskan https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/8649151
Hello!
After countless questions about the usage of "-dir", I thought we should have a small guide on the topic.
How many of you guys have started hating this annoying suffix?
This suffix has a number of uses, but I'll just talk about 3 of them here and see how it goes:
I. When writing a sentence, "writing" being the keyword here, if you're stating important facts, "important" being the keyword here, then you should use "-dir".
For example, you want to write: "Phobos is a satellite of Mars"? Yes, that's a fact. And it's pretty important! (Mind you, soon we're going to Mars). Had it been a satellite of Uranus, you wouldn't need it, because we're not going there anytime soon! ................ (Just kidding. You would use it there too. It's all encyclopaedical information. You need the "-dir" with such statements.)
But this is when writing. When speaking, it's up to you really. I never use it when I speak, for instance.
Also remember my remark about using the "-dir" in important facts. So please don't walk around saying "-dir" with sentences like "This chicken smells fishy", "The weather is nice today," "My father is in the kitchen," or "My car is a BMW," because everyone knows a Mercedes is better......... And also because none of these are encyclopaedical pieces of information. TL;DR : No one cares about your car. (I love BMWs btw. Contact me and we can exchange photos).
If it seems hard to decide when to use it, just never use it. It's much worse (for the listeners) when you use it in the wrong place than when you simply discard it where it's expected. You'll learn it in time. No rush.
II. Here comes the weird part: the "-dir" is also used when you're not too sure of something. After reading the first rule about encyclopaedical usage of "-dir" which you state established facts with, this might seem like a paradox. But this is usually a spoken language thing, although it's fine to use it in writing too. For example, you're about to rob a bank with some friends. (With friends like that...) And one of them asks: "So where do you think they're keeping all the money?" (He's asking in Turkish, btw. So feel free to ask him to take his sock-mask off so you can hear him clearly; Turkish is hard to understand as it is!) And so you turn to him with rolling eyes: "Probably in the vault?" You could say: "Muhtemelen kasada," but wait! Don't kill the moment! Remember this guide and use the "-dir"! "Muhtemelen kasadadır." That's not necessarily a fact. With the "-dir", you mean: "I mean I haven't seen it, but that's probably the case."
Another example: "You give a bacon to the cat, but it won't eat it." (Dogs > cats. #grabs popcorn#) So you go to your friend and say: "The cat's not eating the bacon." Your friend might say: "Aç değil." He's not hungry, hinting he had fed him earlier. But, he could also say: "Aç değildir," which would mean: "He's probably not hungry".
III. You would use "-dir" also to indicate the duration of something. English uses "for" for this. "5 saattir buradayım." → I've been here for 5 hours, or: "Sen o şehre taşındığında 10 yıldır orada yaşıyordum." (When you moved to that city, I'd been living there for 10 years). But remember, you can only use it when in English you would use a perfect tense. Otherwise you can't. For example a sentence like "I'll be in London for 5 days," would not allow "-dir". No perfect tense is used. So: "Dört gün Londra'da olacağım." You could use "boyunca" in this case if you really want to use something: "Dört gün boyunca Londra'da olacağım."
I hope this sheds some light on the matter!