-ma/-mə faktı

Fact-of-event Nominal

Level 6

The -ma/-mə faktı construction is a high-level formal pattern used to transform a verbal action into a discrete, verifiable unit of evidence. It is the standard way to refer to 'the fact of [action]' in legal, journalistic, and administrative contexts.

How It Works

In Azerbaijani 'bureaucratese,' simply using a verbal noun is often not specific enough for legal or official reports. While gecikmə means 'delaying' or 'delay,' gecikmə faktı means 'the [recorded] instance of the delay.'

1. Morphological Structure:
The construction follows standard noun compound rules:

  • Verb Stem + -ma/-mə + faktı

If a specific subject is involved, the subject takes the genitive case, and the verbal noun takes a possessive suffix before faktı:

  • Onun (Genitive) gəlmə-si (Possessive) faktı (The fact of his arrival).

2. Usage and Register:
This is strictly a formal register pattern. You will encounter it in:

  • Police and crime reports (e.g., 'the fact of theft').
  • Court rulings and legal documents.
  • News headlines regarding investigations.
  • Academic papers analyzing data.

3. Syntactic Role:
Because it ends in a noun (faktı), the entire phrase can take further case endings depending on its role in the sentence. For example, if it is a direct object, it becomes faktı-nı using the definite accusative.

Examples (4)

  1. Polis rüşvət alma faktı üzrə araşdırma aparır.

    The police are conducting an investigation into the fact of bribe-taking.

    Word by Word: Police bribe taking fact-of regarding investigation conducting.

    Here, 'rüşvət alma' (bribe taking) is turned into a formal noun phrase 'rüşvət alma faktı' to serve as the object of the investigation.

  2. Sərhədi qanunsuz keçmə faktı qeydə alınıb.

    The fact of illegally crossing the border has been recorded.

    Word by Word: Border-acc illegal crossing fact-of recorded was-taken.

    This is a typical police report sentence where an action is treated as a registered data point.

  3. Onun hadisə yerində olması faktı təsdiqləndi.

    The fact of his being at the scene of the incident was confirmed.

    Word by Word: His incident place-loc being-poss fact-of was-confirmed.

    When a subject is present ('onun'), the verbal noun takes the possessive suffix '-sı' before 'faktı'.

  4. Məhkəmə oğurluq faktını sübuta yetirdi.

    The court proved the fact of the theft.

    Word by Word: Court theft fact-of-acc proof-to reached.

    Note the addition of the accusative case '-nı' to 'faktı' because it is the direct object of the verb.

Common Mistakes

  • This is grammatical, but -ma faktı sounds like a report, not a chat.

    Different MeaningSənin gəlmə faktın məni sevindirdi.
    Sənin gəlməyin məni sevindirdi.

    -ma faktı belongs to legal and official Azerbaijani. For personal feelings or casual events use the simple possessed verbal noun, as in the right sentence.

  • Omitting the possessive suffix on 'fakt'.

    gecikmə fakt
    gecikmə faktı

    In Azerbaijani noun compounds, the second noun must take a possessive suffix to show the relationship. 'Fakt' alone is ungrammatical here.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

-ma/-mə faktıLevel 6Fact-of-event Nominal

Learn This First

To understand '-ma/-mə faktı', a learner must first know how to form verbal nouns using -ma/-mə. They also need to understand the structure of Azerbaijani noun compounds (specifically the genitive-possessive relationship) to see how 'fakt' (fact) is possessed by the action to create the meaning 'the fact of [action].'

Words in This Pattern

fakt-mə