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The Conjunction Ki

MustafaOuz526752

The Conjunction Ki

Post by MustafaOuz526752 »

The conjunction Ki, which should not be confused with the pronominal suffix -ki, is one of the most tangled words in the Turkish language. I will go through it in this post. Its uses are;

1- Relative clause

Ki is the one and only subordinator in the Turkish language. Because Turkish has borrowed it from Persian-a language that shares a common origin with English, its use is the same as English "that". However, their meanings may occasionally differ.

Bir kimse ki söz dinlemez, ona ne söylesen boştur. = He is the kind of person that does not listen, it is futile whatever you say to him.

Babamız ki göktesin, adın kutsal kılınsın.* = Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.

Bir de baktım ki kaçıp gitmiş. = And I saw that he had run away.

Canı sıkıldı, o denli ki dokunsan ağlayacak gibiydi. = She grew annoyed, so much so that she seemed as if she were about to cry.

A side note: Dokunsan ağlayacak olmak is an idiom meaning "to be about to cry", in a sense, you are so emotional that even if someone does an action as harmless as touching you, you will shed tears.

Sen ki benim en iyi arkadaşımdın. = You were my best friend.

2- So that

Patlıcanları ince ince doğra ki güzel pişsin. = Slice the eggplants small so that they will cook well.

Şöyle gel ki yüzünü göreyim. = Come here so that I will see your face.

İlaçlarını iç ki çabucak iyileş. = Take your medications so that you will get better soon.

Ara sıra öyküler yaz ki kalemin güçlensin. = Occasionally write stories so that your writing skills will become strong.


3- Stating the incompatibility of the situations described in given two sentences

This time, the second statement will be wrong as a result of the first.

Suçlu değilim ki çekineyim! = I am not guilty, so I am not embarrassed!

Sınav sonucum açıklanmadı ki notumu bileyim. = My exam result has not been announced, so I do not know my grade.

As you might notice, the first statement is a positive sentence when ki means so that, and the first statement is a negative sentence when ki means so...not.

4- Ending a response that expresses inability, impossibility, or a complaint as an intensifier

Ne demek bilmiyorum ki. = I do not really know what it means.

Gel desen de gelemem ki. = But I can not come even if you tell me to.

Peki diyorsun ama sana güvenilmez ki! = You are agreeing, but you can not be trusted!

5- Expressing worry in questions

Öyle desem alınır mı ki? = I am worrying, will he resent me if I tell him so?

Bu yarışmayı kazanabilecek misin ki? = I am worrying, will you be able to win this competition?

Common set phrases and words

Tabii ki (Of course)

Bugün tabii ki seninle geleceğim. = Today, of course, I will go with you.

Çünkü (Because)

Ben şimdi sizin fikrinizi tenkit etmeyeceğim çünkü faydasızdır.** = I will not criticize your opinion now because it is pointless.

Belki (Maybe)

Belki onu da göreceğiz. = Maybe we will see her too.

Sanki (As if)

Sanki tek suçlu benmişim gibi. = As if I am the only one to blame.

İyi ki (Gratefully, I am grateful that)

İyi ki varsın. = I am grateful that I have you.

Mademki (Seeing that)

Bakma sen, mademki tanıdıkmış bulur bir çaresini. = Don't worry, seeing that it's a friend, she'll find a solution.

Hâlbuki (However, in fact)

Hâlbuki ev sahibi tamirattan kaçınıyor. = However, in fact, the landlord avoids repair.

Oysaki (Whereas)

Gençler şiiri sevmiyor, oysaki şiir onların duygularını eğitir. = The youth does not like poetry, whereas poetry developes their emotions.

Meğerki (Unless)

Bu iş bitmeyecek meğerki siz de yardım edesiniz. = This will not be completed unless you, too, help.

Demek (oluyor) ki (Then)

Demek ki anlamadılar benim ne yaptığımı. = Then they did not understand what I did.

Şöyle ki (The thing of it is)

Şöyle ki, sadece tek şansımız var. = The thing is, we only have one shot.

Velev ki (Supposing that)

Velev ki pişman oldu ve özür diliyor, yine de onu affetmeyeceğim. = Even supposing that she is regretful and apologizes, I will not forgive her.

Tut ki (Supposing that)

Tut ki piyangoyu kazandın, o parayla ne yaparsın? = Supposing that you won the lottery, what would you do with the money?


*From the Lord's prayer, translated as Gerçek Dua into Turkish.

**From a quote of Ömer Seyfettin

Last edited by MustafaOuz526752 on Fri May 20, 2022 4:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Danika_Dakika
United States of America

Re: The Conjunction Ki

Post by Danika_Dakika »

Bu açıklama için teşekkürler!

Can you help me understand how Sen ki benim en iyi arkadaşımdın is different from Sen benim en iyi arkadaşımdın? I am trying to figure out what the "ki" changes if this is a full sentence either way.

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MustafaOuz526752

Re: The Conjunction Ki

Post by MustafaOuz526752 »

Danika_Dakika wrote: Fri May 13, 2022 10:40 pm

Bu açıklama için teşekkürler!

Can you help me understand how Sen ki benim en iyi arkadaşımdın is different from Sen benim en iyi arkadaşımdın? I am trying to figure out what the "ki" changes if this is a full sentence either way.

Rica ederim. Ki does not change anything in that sentence. They are equal meaning-wise.

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