Turkish: A Comprehensive Grammar

(26) Biz-im koğuş-ta bazı-sı ağır ol-mak üzere on beş kadar hasta
we-GEN ward-LOC some-3SG.POSS serious be-CV 15 about patient yat-ıyor-du.
lie-IMPF-P.COP
‘In our ward there were about fifteen patients, some of them in a serious
condition.’
(ii) A construction introduced by başta ‘at the head’, indicating the entity/entities to
which a statement chiefly applies (see 16.8).
16.1.11 ADVERBIAL CLAUSES
Adverbial clauses are the most complex kinds of adverbial construction. Some types of
adverbial meaning, such as reason, purpose, condition and concession, are expressed
predominantly by means of adverbial clauses. For detailed discussion see Chapters 26
and 27.
16.2 SYNTACTIC FUNCTIONS OF ADVERBIALS
Adverbials play a modifying role within a sentence or clause. In broad terms what is
modified is either (i) the sentence or clause as a whole, (ii) a verb, (iii) an adjective, or
(iv) another adverb. Each of these patterns is illustrated below:
(i) Adverbial modifying the sentence or a clause as a whole:
(27) Telefon numaram sizde vardır herhalde.
‘I expect you’ve got my telephone number.’
(ii) Adverbial modifying a verb (in the main clause or a subordinate clause, 13.1.3):
(28) [Hızlı yürüseydik] 19.10’daki trene yetişebilirdik.
‘[If we had walked fast] we co uld have caught the 19.10 train.’
(iii) Adverbial modifying an adjective (15.4):
(29) Bu oda bana oldukça karanlık geldi.
‘This room seems to me quite dark.’
(iv) Adverbial modifying another adverb (16.9):
(30) Çocuğa fazla sert davranıyor
‘S/he treats the child too harshly.’
Adverbial constructions 193