Language/Turkmen/Grammar/Negation

Turkmen Grammar - Negation

Hi Turkmen learners! 😊

In this lesson, we will focus on negation in Turkmen. You will learn how to negate verbs, adjectives, and nouns in Turkmen. You will also learn about the different structures used to form negations in Turkmen.

Consider broadening your understanding by checking out these related lessons: The Case system, Future Tense, Conditional Mood & Ordinal Numbers.

Negating Verbs

To negate verbs in Turkmen, we use the word "deň" or "diň" depending on the vowel harmony of the verb. We add this word after the verb to indicate negation. In addition, we use the suffix "-ma" or "-me" to indicate negation as well. The suffix "-ma" is used for words with front vowels (e, ä, i, ö, ü) while the suffix "-me" is used for words with back vowels (a, ı, o, u).

Let's see some examples:

Turkmen	Pronunciation	English
ýöneýär	yönewjär	He is going
ýöneýär-deň	yönewjär-den	He is not going
ýöne-maar	yönemar	I am not going
ýöne-mee	yöneme	You are not going

Negating Adjectives

To negate adjectives in Turkmen, we use the word "bolma" or "bolmaz" depending on the vowel harmony of the adjective. We add this word after the adjective to indicate negation.

Let's see an example:

Turkmen	Pronunciation	English
iyi	iyi	Good
iyi-bolma	iyi-bolma	Not good

Negating Nouns

To negate nouns in Turkmen, we use the word "degen" or "diňe" depending on the vowel harmony of the noun. We add this word before the noun to indicate negation.

Let's see an example:

Turkmen	Pronunciation	English
gepleşýän adam	gepleşän adam	A man who talks
diňe-gepleşýän adam	dinew-gepleşän adam	A man who does not talk

Negating Sentences

To negate sentences in Turkmen, we use the word "bolmadyk" or "bolmaz" depending on the vowel harmony of the verb. We add this word at the end of the sentence to indicate negation.

Let's see an example:

Turkmen	Pronunciation	English
Men okap bilýärin.	Men okap bilýärin	I can read.
Men okap bilýärin, bolmaz!	Men okap bilýärin, bolmaz	I can't read!

Practice Dialogue

• Person 1: Eýý, mugallym, siz şäherde ýañyrygyny alynjak? (Excuse me, teacher, are you taking the bus in the city?)
• Person 2: Ýok, men otlaçylyşaçam. (No, I am walking.)
• Person 1: Näge? (Why?)
• Person 2: Çünki men ýürüýän adamlygy mynasyp. (Because I prefer walking.)
• Person 1: Aha, Şahatdan sebäbi barada ofisäniň terjimandaşynyň ýüzüne ýazdygyny görmedim. (I see, I haven't seen the face of the office translator who is going to meet us at the clock tower.)
• Person 2: Onuň ismini ýazyp bardym, ama onun wagtyny bilmediýime görä ýürüýär edim. (I wrote down his name, but because I don't know his schedule, I am walking.)

Conclusion

In this lesson, you have learned about negation in Turkmen. You learned how to form negations for verbs, adjectives, and nouns. You also learned about the different structures used to form negations in Turkmen. Remember, practice makes perfect! To improve your Turkmen Grammar, you can also use the Polyglot Club website. Find native speakers and ask them any questions!

➡ If you have any questions, please ask them in the comments section below.
➡ Feel free to edit this wiki page if you think it can be improved. 😎

Sources

• Turkmen grammar - Wikipedia
• (PDF) Grammatical sketch of Turkmen

Finished this lesson? Check out these related lessons: Word order, Pronouns and Verbs, Common Prepositions & Question Words.

Other Lessons

• Verbs
• Nouns
• Past in the past (pluperfect)
• Plurals
• Give your Opinion
• Conditional Mood
• Gender
• Pronouns
• Adjectives
• Personal pronouns