Turkish: A Comprehensive Grammar

In contrast to sentences containing noun clauses marked with -DIK or -(y)AcAK (24.4.3),
which are to do with factual perception, knowledge or communication, sentences
constructed with -mA clauses deal with states and events in terms of description or
evaluation, of causation processes in which they are involved, or of people’s attitudes
towards them or attempts to bring them about.
Below we describe the typical functions that -mA clauses can have in different
grammatical roles within the sentence.
(i) As subject:
(a) Description/evaluation:
(70) [Fatma Hanım-ın üç kat merdiven çık-ma-sı] çok zor.
-GEN three storey stairs go.up-VN-3SG.POSS very difficult
‘It’s very difficult [for Fatma Hanım to go up three flights of stairs].’
Subject -mA clauses are one of the major means in Turkish of expressing necessity or
obligation (see 21.4.2.2):
(71) [8.30’ta havalimanında olmamız] gerekiyor.
‘We have to be at the airport at 8.30.’
The sequence olması gerek/lazım can also express an assumption (see 21.4.1.4).
(b) Causation:
Turkish: A comprehensive grammar 364
(72) [Ayla’nın işten hep geç ve yorgun gelmesi] evde gerginlik yaratıyordu.
‘[The fact that Ayla always got back from work late and tired] was creating
tension in the house.’
(c) Desired action or state:
A fuller treatment of this type is given in (iiia) below, dealing with -mA clauses as
direct objects. Where the -mA clause is the subject, the main predicate is usually
the passivized form of iste- ‘want’:
(73) [Herkes-in birer hikaye anlat-ma-sı] iste-n-iyor-muş.
everyone-GEN one.each story tell-VN-3SG.POSS want-PASS-IMPF-EV.COP
‘It seems they want [everyone to tell a story].’
(d) Indirect commands, requests and recommendations:
These are the passivized versions of the type of sentence discussed in (iii)(b)
below:
(74) [Bu ürünün elde yıkanması] tavsiye edilir.
‘It is recommended [that this product be washed by hand].’
(ii) As subject complement:
All of the functions performed by -mA clauses as subjects can also be performed when
they are in the subject complement role (12.1.1.2):
(75) Önemli olan [sizin bu evi beğenmeniz].
‘The important thing is [that you (should) like this house].’