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being and becoming
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| 1. |
06 Sep 2006 Wed 11:05 pm |
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I always had a hard time explaining the difference between the two words, and according to the dictionary, olmak in Turkish can mean both. So here are my guesses based on how I've seen it used:
Olmak in the past tense means become rather than be. For example:
Öğretmen oldum.
I became an English teacher. As opposed to...
Öğretmendim.
I was an English teacher.
Is this true?
But here's something else I've seen:
Ağır geldi sır buluta.
Does this mean that the secret made the cloud heavy? I think I've seen similar sentences where it seemed "adjective + past tense of gelmek" seemed to mean "become". Is this possible?
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| 2. |
07 Sep 2006 Thu 07:12 am |
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Quoting Chrisfer: I always had a hard time explaining the difference between the two words, and according to the dictionary, olmak in Turkish can mean both. So here are my guesses based on how I've seen it used:
Olmak in the past tense means become rather than be. For example:
Öğretmen oldum.
I became an English teacher. As opposed to...
Öğretmendim.
I was an English teacher.
Is this true? |
They are ok.
Quoting Chrisfer: But here's something else I've seen:
Ağır geldi sır buluta.
Does this mean that the secret made the cloud heavy? I think I've seen similar sentences where it seemed "adjective + past tense of gelmek" seemed to mean "become". Is this possible? |
ağır gelmek: to make someone feel heavy(or maybe hard)
Bu ödevler bana çok ağır geliyor
These homeworks are very hard for me.(they make me feel very hard)
it can be also: zor gelmek or reverse kolay gelmek
Bu iş Ahmet'e çok ağır geldi
This work was very hard for Ahmet ("It had felt very hard for Ahmet" or "It made Ahmet feel very hard)
Kolay gelsin
(I hope) your business (=work) will be easy
This is some different from olmak (become), but you may think like that...
Kolay gelsin
I hope your work become easy for you
Bu ödevler bana çok ağır geliyor
These homeworks become very hard for me
Bu iş Ahmet'e ağır geldi
This work became hard for Ahmet.
By the way, in these sentences, there are no changing situation as "become"
"red" changed to >>> "black", so we say:
"red" became "black"
But zor geldi or ağır geldi doesnt have a meaning like a changing.
Your sentence:
Ağır geldi sır buluta.
Or in ordinary shape:
Sır buluta ağır geldi.
The mystery was heavy for cloud. (or became heavy, but no "changing from a type to another")
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| 3. |
07 Sep 2006 Thu 10:56 am |
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Quoting Chrisfer: I always had a hard time explaining the difference between the two words, and according to the dictionary, olmak in Turkish can mean both. So here are my guesses based on how I've seen it used:
Olmak in the past tense means become rather than be. For example:
Öğretmen oldum.
I became an English teacher. As opposed to...
Öğretmendim.
I was an English teacher.
Is this true?
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Yes, it is OK but you have only scratched the surface. My dictionary lists 34 different usage as an intrantive verb and 8 more as helper (yardımcı verb. Most of them can be translated using "to be". Here are some examples:
- Transition from one state to another
şarap sirke olmuş -- the wine has become vinegar.
- Becoming a member of a profession (your example)
Babası gibi kasap oldu -- He became (or has become) a butcher like his father
- When speaking of relationships
Onunla iyi günlerimiz oldu -- We had nice days with him/her
- For an action to be relevant
Bugün gitmesek iyi olur -- We hadn't better go today
- Speaking of a fruit, means becoming ripe
Elmalar olmuş -- The apples have become ripe
- With possessive suffixes, it means to have
Yakında bir arabam olacak -- I will have a car soon
- To have been prepared
Çay oldu -- The tea has been prepared (The tea is ready, we can drink)
- To lose something = -den/-ten olmak
İşten oldum -- I have lost the job
Paradan olduk -- We have lost the money
- To happen
Ne oldu? -- What happened?
Sana ne oldu? -- What happened to you?
etc.
And we have a lot of words derived from olmak
olur -- that's ok (deal, agreed), that'll do
olmaz -- that's not OK (I cannot accept it, no deal), that'll not do
ne olur or n'olur -- please (lit. what happens if ...)
ne olmuş or n'olmuş -- so what (what's it to you, what's the matter)
Together with some tenses
V+ -iyor olmak -- will be doing something
geliyor olacağım -- I will be coming
V+ -mekte olmak -- to have been doing something
gelmekte olacağım -- I will have been coming
V+ -miş (durumda) olmak -- to have done something
Gelmiş (durumda) olacağım -- I will have come
V+ -(i)r/-(e)r olmak -- To start doing something habitually
Bu aralar çok gelir oldu -- He started to come here many times nowadays.
Bu aralar gelmez oldu -- He started not coming here nowadays (He is not coming anymore)
V+ -ecek olmak -- to have an intention for doing something (usually in conditional mode)
gelecek olursa -- If he decides to come or if he ever comes
etc.
So many usages. It's hard to master indeed. It needs time to master it.
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| 4. |
07 Sep 2006 Thu 08:11 pm |
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Thanks to you both. Caliptrix, in English "become" always means a change, so I wouldn't say "This homework has become difficult" unless it was easy before. But you've clarified a use of "gelmek" that I've seen several times and didn't quite understand.
Thanks aslan2 for the list of olmak uses. Some I knew, some I've vaguely guessed at, and some have caused me to give up on certain sentences. This will help.
I'll go paste all this into my notes now.
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| 5. |
09 Sep 2006 Sat 12:11 pm |
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Rica ederim, kolay gelsin 
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