Conjunctions

Conjunctions link clauses, phrases, or words in coordinated or subordinated structures. Turkish uses coordinating conjunctions and genuine subordinators; connective adverbs additionally mark discourse relations. Conjunctions do not inflect.

1. Coordinating Conjunctions

These link elements of equal syntactic status.

1.1. ve (and)

Examples:

• Ali ve Ayşe geldi. (Ali and Ayşe arrived.)

• Kitabı okudum ve not aldım. (I read the book and took notes.)

1.2. veya / ya da (or)

Examples:

• Çay veya kahve ister misin? (Do you want tea or coffee?)

• Ya bugün gideriz ya da yarın. (Either we go today or tomorrow.)

1.3. ama / fakat / ancak (but / however)

Examples:

• Gelmek istedim ama gelemedim. (I wanted to come but couldn’t.)

• Hava soğuktu, fakat yürüdük. (It was cold, but we walked.)

1.4. hem … hem … (both … and …)

Examples:

• Hem ben hem o biliyoruz. (Both I and he know.)

1.5. ne … ne … (neither … nor …)

Examples:

• Ne o geldi ne ben. (Neither he came nor I.)

2. Subordinators

These introduce dependent clauses and establish syntactic subordination.

2.1. çünkü (because)

Introduces a causal subordinate clause.

Example:

• Geldim çünkü seni görmek istedim. (I came because I wanted to see you.)

2.2. eğer … ise (if)

Forms conditional subordination.

Example:

• Eğer istersen birlikte yaparız. (If you want, we can do it together.)

2.3. madem (since / given that)

Indicates justification based on a known fact.

Example:

• Madem buradasın, konuşalım. (Since you are here, let’s talk.)

3. Conjunctive Adverbs (Discourse Connectives)

These connect clauses semantically but do not create syntactic subordination. They typically occur sentence-initially or clause-initially.

3.1. o yüzden / bu yüzden (therefore)

Marks consequence.

Example:

• Geç kaldım, o yüzden acele ettim. (I was late, therefore I hurried.)

3.2. ayrıca (also / moreover)

Example:

• Ayrıca seni aradım. (I also called you.)

3.3. sonra (then / afterwards)

Example:

• Önce yıkadım, sonra kuruttum. (First I washed, then dried.)

3.4. üstelik (furthermore)

Example:

• Üstelik zaman da vardı. (Furthermore, there was time.)

4. Correlative Structures

These bind parallel constituents.

4.1. ya … ya … (either … or …)

Example:

• Ya sen söylersin ya ben. (Either you say it or I do.)

4.2. gerek … gerek … (both … and …)

Example:

• Gerek öğrenciler gerek öğretmenler katıldı. (Both students and teachers participated.)

4.3. ister … ister … (whether … or …)

Example:

• İster bugün gel, ister yarın. (Come today or tomorrow, as you wish.)

5. Syntactic Distribution

• Coordinators link equal syntactic categories.

• Subordinators introduce dependent clauses and precede the subordinate clause.

• Conjunctive adverbs connect independent clauses and function adverbially.

• Correlative forms occur in paired distribution.