Turkish: A Comprehensive Grammar

‘I don’t think there’s any point in [us asking Ali to come].’
24.4.3 CLAUSES FORMED WITH -DIK OR -(y)AcAK
The subordinating suffixes -DIK and -(y)AcAK are obligatorily followed by a possessive
suffix referring to the subject of the noun clause. -DIK and -(y)AcAK alternate with each
other on the basis of the tense component of their meanings: -DIK refers to a time
simultaneous with, or earlier than, that referred to by the superordinate predicate, while -
(y)AcAK refers to a time later than that referred to by the superordinate predicate. In other
words, -DIK expresses relative present or relative past tense and -(y)AcAK relative future
tense (21.2):
(89)
(a) [Orhan-ın bir şey yap-ma-dığ-ı] belliydi.
Orhan-GEN anything do-NEG-VN-3SG.POSS
‘It was obvious [that Orhan wasn’t doing/hadn’t done anything].’
(b) [Orhan-ın bir şey yap-ma-yacağ-ı] belliydi.
Orhan-GEN anything do-NEG-VN-3SG.POSS
‘It was obvious [that Orhan wouldn’t do/wasn’t going to do anything].’
The fact that noun clauses with -DIK and -(y)AcAK are marked for tense points to the
crucial difference between them and (possessive-marked) -mA clauses. -DIK/-(y)AcAK
clauses are used almost exclusively in sentences that have to do with the factual status of
an event or state (the truth or otherwise of its occurrence or of some aspect of its
occurrence (who, what, where, etc)). The main or superordinate predicate in such
sentences, if nominal, as in (89), expresses concepts such as truth or falsehood, certainty
or uncertainty. If verbal, it is typically a verb expressing some cognitive process
(knowledge, understanding, belief, opinion, etc.) or communication (saying, asking, etc.).
The types of sentence in which -DIK/-(y)AcAK clauses occur are thus principally those
known as indirect statements and indirect questions. In both types the noun clause can
occur either as subject, as direct object (with obligatory accusative case marking) or as
oblique object.
24.4.3.1 Indirect statements
In an indirect statement, the content of the noun clause would, if formulated as an
independent sentence, constitute a statement. The sentence as a whole may, however,
take the form of either a statement or a question:
(i) With the noun clause as subject:
The superordinate predicate may be either nominal, as in (90a), or verbal, as in (90b):
(90)
Noun clauses 367
(a) [Ayşe-nin ameliyat ol-duğ-u] doğru mu?
Ayşe-GEN operation AUX-VN-3SG.POSS true INT
‘Is it true [that Ayşe has had an operation]?’