Indirect imperative forms

Abstract

An element particularly conspicuous in day-to-day conversation is the frequent occurrence of a verb form by means of which the desirability or advisability of some state of affairs is expressed. This form is often compared to the so-called subjunctive in other languages. However, the function of the indirect imperative in Turkish is quite different. There is one suffix for the third-person singular and one for the third-person plural. Such forms can be negated or questioned, as well as negated and questioned at the same time. And what is more, the projectional suffix for the past is applicable as well. The occurrence of indirect imperative forms in many fixed expressions based on olsun ‘may it be’ shows how important these structures are in interpersonal situations.