In this lesson you’ll learn a few ways to make adjectives, adverbs… more strengthened. For example “how to say very clean, very dark, very red…” We make strengthened adjectives in Turkish for making the explanation more powerful.
How to say very……. In Turkish
1. Way: by saying two time
Let’s start with the simplest. This both strengthens the meaning and emphasizes the word spoken twice. We say adjectives 2 times to emphasize adjectives in Turkish. In this way we’re making the meaning stronger. For example “kırmızı” which means “red”. To say “very red, too red” you can say “kırmızı kırmızı”.
ışıl ışıl: so brilliant
pırıl pırıl: so brilliant, very clear
yavaş yavaş: slowly, very slow
mışıl mışıl: (sleep) well
kara kara: so black
koca koca: so big
al al: very red
uzun uzun: very tall
kısa kısa: so short
adım adım: slowly, step by step
2. Way: “mı, mi, mu, mü” between words
Again we say adjectives 2 times to making the meaning stronger. But we put a question suffix between two words. Remember the question suffix: mı, mi, mu, mü. We decide according to vowel harmony to which one to use. If the last vowel of the word come before question suffix is “a or ı” we use “mı” suffix. If the last vowel of the word come before question suffix is “e or i” we use “mi”. If the last vowel of the word come before question suffix is “o or u” we use “mu”. If the last vowel of the word come before question suffix is “ö or ü” we use “mü”. Now let’s use this structure in sample sentences.
güzel mi güzel: very beautiful
sıcak mı sıcak: very hot
kırmızı mı kırmızı: very red
geniş mi geniş: very large
büyük mü büyük: very big
uzun mu uzun: very long
hoş mu hoş: very nice
tuzlu mu tuzlu: very salty, very expensive
karanlık mı karanlık: very dark
nefis mi nefis: so yummy
yakışıklı mı yakışıklı: so handsome
3. Way: First syllable + r, p, s, m + word
It is the most useful, the easiest to say while speaking, so this is the most common method to emphasize adjectives in turkish. But I wanted to mention it last, since this is the method that you will have the most difficulty in learning. Because unfortunately there is no exact rule you can follow about it. Just by hearing, your ear and tongue will get used to and learn. The rule is: we copy the first syllable of the word (the part up to the first vowel) and paste it at the beginning of the word. So we repeat the first syllable 2 times. When combining 2 syllables, we put one of the letters “r, p, s, m” between them.
Eg. beyaz (white). First syllable is (the part up to the first vowel) “be”. We’ll repeat first syllable at the beginning. Be…beyaz. And at last we will put a letter (b, p, s, m) between them. “Be + m + beyaz =bembeyaz (so white, very white). Here there is no clear rule about which letter to use between adjactive and first syllable. But I’ll give you a little tip that you can’t find everywhere.
!KEEP IT MIND!
If the word starts with a vowel, “p” is used. Example: the word “açık” (means open or clear to understand) begins with the letter “a”. “a” is a vowel. Then we’ll use “p” to strength: a + p + açık = apaçık (very clear). Another example: “ıslak” (means wet) This word begins with “ı”, that is, a vowel. I will also use “p” here. ı + p + ıslak =ıpıslak (very wet). In this case I mentioned you can use “p”. But don’t forget!! in other cases, “p” or “m, s, r” may be used and we don’t know a rule for in other cases.
Be + m + beyaz: very white
Si + m + siyah: very black
Ka + p + kara: very black
Ko + p + koyu: very dark
Ma + s + mavi: very blue
Kı + p + kırmızı: very red
Ye + m + yeşil: very green
Sa + p + sarı: very yellow
Tu + p + turuncu: very orange
Mo + s + mor: very purple
Pe + s + pembe: very pink
Ka + s + katı: very solid, very strict
Bü + s + büyük: very big
Ko + s + koca: very big
Te + r + temiz: very clean
Ku + p + kuru: very dry
In this lesson we expaned “how to say very” before any adjactive in Turkish. If you have any question about strengthened adjectives in Turkish or emphasize adjectives in Turkish language or any subject just let me know in the comment below. Btw we also share all Turkish grammar lessons, some daily usefull tips, Turkish idioms and more about Turkish language and Turkish culture on YouTube channel! You can watch all lessons for free now! Just click here and subscribe to don’t lose our videos. See you in another lesson!