# -ma infinitives used as adjectives



## sufler

Merhaba.
A few days ago I found a photo captioned as follows:_ Yazdan_* kalma*_ bir foto_.
My first thought was "Why isn't it kalan?" "What is the difference?"

Later I recalled, there is also a form "ortalama" which actually is a infinitve of "ortalamak" too, but it is widely used as an adjecative "average", eg. *ortalama *_eğitim
_So finally I've come to conslusion that the "short" infinitives can be used as simple adjectives (I still didn't know what is the difference between -an and -er participles).

But then in the next article I read, I saw* içme suyu*-- oh no, that was too much confusion for me! 
If the kalma and ortalama (and many more as I suppose) infinitives can be used as simple adjectives, then why "su" needs a tamlama clause? Why can't it be* içme su*?


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## Muttaki

I never thought about that before. Yes "ortalama" in the phrase "ortalama eğitim" is an adjective but "içme" of "içme suyu" is a noun, not adjective. It is like *"at arabası"*, *"kol saati"* etc. 

I couldn't figure out what "kalma" constitutes as. But at least I can say for its meaning that it is the same thing as saying "Yazdan kalan bir foto".


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## Rallino

I second what Muttaki said. A most interesting question, indeed!
The only answer I have is that, I believe it's a special construction found in only a handful of expressions.
Off the top of my head:_ Sonradan görme, çekirdekten yetişme, anadan doğma _are also in this format.


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## sufler

Ok. Thanks for the answers. So, can I create other expression according to this pattern, like: _eve gelme bir misafir _or _sona erme bir dönem_?

Or it can be used only in fixed phrases to memorize?


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## erliver

No, unfortunately you have to say, 'eve gelmiş bir misafir' and 'sona ermiş bir dönem'.
But the question is actually a though one, I can't really explain, why we prefer to say 'yazdan kalma bir fotoğraf' rather than 'yazdan kalmış bir fotoğraf'.


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## Reverence

The structure is mostly used to describe the origin. A rule of thumb is to use the suffix "-den". "Eve gelme bir misafir" would sound unnatural, but "köyden gelme bir misafir" would not.


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## sufler

Oh, now I see. Thanks everyone for explaining.


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## Black4blue

*dağdan inme* is another common saying.


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