Turkish: A Comprehensive Grammar

anla- ‘understand’, kork- ‘fear’, denote actions or states which require complements.
There are two types of complement, direct objects and oblique objects.
13.1.2.1 Direct object
A direct object denotes a person or thing which is brought into being, or to which
something is done, by the action of the subject. In Turkish the noun phrase which
constitutes the direct object is usually non-case-marked if non-definite (i.e. indefinite or
categorial, see 22.2 and 22.3), but if definite it has the accusative case marker -(y)I
Indefinite direct object:
(12) Bir mektup yaz-dı-m.
a letter write-PF-1SG
‘I wrote a letter.’
Categorial direct object:
(13) Yaz-lar-ı açık hava sinema-sın-da film seyr-ed-er-ler-di.
summer-PL-NC open air cinema-NC-LOC film watch-AUX-AOR-3PL-P.COP
‘They used to watch films in outdoor cinemas in the summer.’
Definite direct object:
Turkish: A comprehensive grammar 128
(14) Bu parça-yı ancak çok iyi bir piyanist çal-abil-ir.
this piece-ACC only very good a pianist play-PSB-AOR
‘Only a very good pianist can play this piece.’
13.1.2.2 Oblique object
Oblique objects denote persons or things which are not directly affected by the action of
the verb but which are an integral part of its meaning. They have one of the dative,
locative, ablative or comitative/instrumental markers. They occur with intransitive verbs
especially with those which express emotion, such as hoşlan- ‘like’, ‘fancy’, kork- ‘fear’,
sevin- ‘be happy (about)’, üzül- ‘be sad (about)’ and kız- ‘be angry (about/with)’. Which
particular case marker appears on the complement noun phrase is determined by the verb.
Dative-marked oblique object
Verbs such as inan- ‘believe’, güven- ‘trust’, acı- ‘feel sorry (for)’, sevin- ‘be pleased
(about)’, üzül- ‘be sad (about)’, kız- ‘be angry (about/with)’, kıy-‘be merciless (towards)’,
bayıl- ‘adore’, tap- ‘worship’, and compound verbs such as razı ol- ‘agree (to)’, ↓gıcık ol-
/↓kıl ol- ‘be irritated (by)’ (slang), boyun eğ- ‘submit (to)’, sıkıl- ‘be upset (by)’ and uy-
‘match’, ‘comply (with)’ take complements with dative case marking:
(15) Herkes piyanist-e bayıl-dı.
pianist-DAT adore-PF
‘Everyone adored the pianist.’
(16) Bazı insanlar [tatsızlık çıkar-may]-a bayıl-ıyor.
conflict create-VN-DAT love-IMPF