The ancient Stone carvings on Nemrut Dağı in the province of Ağrı

About the Persian - ki - as a conjunction: that, so that, as, but what, but and as pronoun: who, that, which and as an idiom: so that

About Ki

In Turkish there are 3 types of ki

ki:
Conjuction: that, so that, as, but what, but
Pronoun: that, which, so that
Idiom: thus.., like that.., so it is..

Ki as a Conjunction (Joining word)

This word ki replaces the English words - who, that, which - when joining two ideas in relaion to each other. There is only the one word ki in Turkish as of course Turkish has no gender.

Note that it is mandatory to use a comma preceding ki in Turkish in this type of usage to show the subject of the sentence clearly.

Examples

1. Oran, who you saw today, is my best friend
2. Oran, ki sen bugün gördün, benim en iyi arkadaşım.
3. Maths, which many people hate, is my favorite class.
4. Matematik, ki bir çok insan nefret eder, benim en sevdiğim derstir.

Ki is also used for joing two sentences together, but this method goes against Turkish Grammar rules.

1. Biliyorum ki beni seviyorsun. - I know that you love me.
2. This method is based on Persian Grammar and is more suitable to European thinking. However the constuction shown below comes over as more natural to the Turk.

1. Biliyorum ki beni seviyorsun. - NOT the natural Turkish method
2. Beni sevdiğini biliyorum. - The CORRECT method according to turkish Grammar

Explanation

Beni sevdiğ-in-i biliyorum. - Lit: Me that-love-you know I
sevdik (that loves) + in (you/your) + -i (object marker for the verb - biliyorum - I know)

The correct mehod uses the -dik Relative Object participle.

Thus it becomes that both ideas - "the person" and "their loving" become objects of the verb - I know. This is more suitable to the Turkish point of view.

Ki as a Suffix

Most of the time the suffix ki again signifies - who, that, which - is acually in a locative situation. In Turkish the addition of ki to the object located completes the meaning whereas in English the relative pronoun in this relationship is glossed over or not included at all.

1. As an example:
2. Bahçedeki çocuk - The child (who is) in the garden.

Note that the us of the relative ki - who, which, that - is necessary in Turkish although in English it can be ommitted.

For instance if we omit the ki and say - Bahçede çocuk - then the meaning in Turkish gives the idea - "the child is in the garden" - or it is almost meaningless, whereas - Bahçedeki çocuk means - The child WHO is in the garden. - showing that "the child" is specific.

Some further examples

1. Elimdeki para - The money (that is) in my hand.., The money (that) I' ve got.
2. Yanımda para yok - I don't have money with me.. (money that is by my side).

Ki as an Idiom

This ki is ofen used in comparison as in:

1. oysa ki - if it is thus, if that's the way it is, thus, so then...
2. hal bu ki - the condition is this, that is the way it is, so then...

These days these utterances are regularly found written as a single word (in truth they are not), and have found a way into the languge as such.

1. oysaki - so.., then..
2. halbuki - It's this way..., like this..

Ki as a Relative Pronoun

In the completion of descriptive nouns, the suffix -ki can be added to the completed noun and then used in place of the noun + noun completion.

EXAMPLES:
Ali'nin arabası, Ayşe'nin arabasından daha güzeldir. - So we can say -
Ayşe's car is better than Ali's ca.r
Ali'nin arabası, Ayşe'ninkinden daha güzeldir. - So we can say -
Ayşe's one is better than Ali's car.
 
Bizim koltuklar, Fatmalar'ın koltuklarından daha yenidir. - So we can say -
Our chairs are newer that Fatma's chairs.
Bimkiler, Fatmalar'ın koltuklarından daha yenidir. - So we can say -
Our ones are newer that Fatma's chairs.
 
Bahçenin domatesi, seranın domatesinden daha lezzetlidir. - So we can say -
Our tomatoes are tastier than the greenhouse tomatoes
Bahçeninki, seraninkinden daha lezzetlidir. - So we can say -
Ours are tastier than the greenhouse ones.
 
"Ahmet'in kitabi" yerine "Ahmet'inki." - So we can say -
"Ahmet's one" in the place of "Ahmet's book."