merhaba all

i´m really confused when it comes to the application of the suffix "dir", what does it mean exactly and when is it used, could please anyone help?

thanks in advance

Hi, the dir/dýr/dur/dür/tir/týr/tur/tür suffix is used in verbless sentences to mean he/she/it is. It is a present tense suffix of to be, as opposed to the past tense version (it was) using di/du etc.

It describes a state of being.

Hedeftir. = It is Hedef.

Bir mektuptur. = It is a letter.

For the negative version you use deðil.

Pahalý deðildir = It is not expensive.

I will try and add a link to a site that gives a good explanation later.

 çok teþekkurlar Henry

now its clear

And here is the link:

http://web.archive.org/web/20071228102851/www.turkishlanguage.co.uk/tobepos.htm

This web-archive is useful for other explanations as well.

Also the page on this site:

http://www.turkishclass.com/turkish_lesson_67

I thought dýr could also mean sanýrým, like I think it is this way. bu kitap ilginçtir for example could mean In my opinion this book is interesting.

sorry to fill up space, but now I am trying to remember...maybe the dýr only works as sanýrým in cases where it attaches itself to a verb. Yarin ben sana geleceðimdir.Let me know what you all think. sorry again for filling up the page. but thanks so much henry for the site, I found it very helpful .

bu kitap ilginçtir means "this book, it is interesting".

I can see how you associate this statement with an opinion, but it would need

bence / fýkrýmce / bana göre at the start of the sentence to have this meaning.

Bence bu kitap ilginçtir means "In my opinion this book is interesting"

Yarin ben sana geleceðim (tomorrow I will come to you)

This is future tense. My understanding is that the "dir" suffix is present tense, which wouldn´t make it possible to say:

Yarin ben sana geleceðimdir

Maybe a native speaker can confirm my thoughts.

PS The ´dir´ suffix can also be added to verb stems to give the meaning of "causing"

The following examples were taken from a textbook:

ölmek - to die,

öldürmek - to kill, to cause someone to die

yemek - to eat,

yedirmek - to feed someone/something, to get someone/something to eat

gülmek - to smile,

güldürmek - to make someone smýle

bilmek - to know,

bildirmek - to inform, to announce, ie to cause them to know

çalýþmak - to work, 

çalýþtýrmak - to make (a machine) work

saçlarý kesmek - to cut haýr,

saçlarý kestirmek - to have a haircut.

-dýr suffix for "I" (Ben) is a very extraordinary situation (and fictitious, I think). Furthermore that is not used like you imagined.

* For 3rd person, "o" (he/she/it), it is used when you give an encyclopedical information with the verb "to be":

Ankara Türkiye´nin baþkentidir.

Ankara is the capital city of Turkey.

* Or while telling a story, and giving important information, again for the verb "to be":

[...] Ahmet ailenin en büyük çocuðudur. [... story goes on]

Ahmet is the eldest child of the family.

* Guessing something:

Merak etme, yoldadýr, geliyordur.

Don´t worry, (I guess) he is on the way, coming.

* Hoping something while giving a speech:

Annen inþallah düzelecektir, aðlama.

Your mother will be ok (I hope), don´t cry.

And you cannot use it for the other persons like "I", "you" or "we"; except making a sentence which puts a situation:

Neden öyle diyorsun, belki yoldayýmdýr, belki geleceðimdir. Beni suçlama.

Why do you say so, maybe [the situation] "I am on the way", maybe [the situation] I would come. Don´t blame on me.

And your sentence; "Yarýn ben sana geleceðimdir" is very very odd and may only mean "assume that I would come to you tomorrow" and as if you are explaining things without giving the information about that you would go really or not.

This last examples are very fictitious, unreal, hard to put this feeling in another language by translation. And it will be also ok without putting -dýr suffix. For that reason, I advice you not to make -dir sentences for other persons, and also make it generally for the vebr "to be", not for the other verbs.

In some regions of Turkey, generally in South East Anatolia, people make many sentences with -dýr suffix, that is common only there and with that accent. Not in the regular accent and regular "Ýstanbul" Tukish.

Thanks for this additional information caliptrix.