Konu Anlatımı
Legendary Figures — Efsanevi Kişiler
Tarihe yön vermiş bilim insanları, mucitler, liderler ve sanatçılar legendary figures olarak adlandırılır. Onları tanıtırken Past Simple ağırlıklı bir biyografi dili kullanılır.
Famous Figures (Ünlü Kişiler)
| English | Türkçe | Örnek |
|---|
| scientist | bilim insanı | Albert Einstein was a famous scientist. |
| inventor | mucit | Thomas Edison was a great inventor. |
| explorer | kâşif | Marco Polo was an explorer. |
| leader | lider | Atatürk was a great leader. |
| poet | şair | Yunus Emre was a Turkish poet. |
| composer | bestekâr | Mozart was a composer. |
| discovery | keşif | The discovery of penicillin changed medicine. |
| invention | icat | The invention of the wheel was important. |
| achieve | başarmak | She achieved great success. |
| contribute | katkıda bulunmak | He contributed to science. |
| courage | cesaret | She showed great courage. |
| legacy | miras | His legacy still lives today. |
| found | kurmak | He founded a new company. |
| inspire | ilham vermek | Her story inspires many people. |
Describing People (Kişilik Sıfatları)
- brave: cesur — He was a brave soldier.
- determined: kararlı — She was determined to succeed.
- intelligent: zeki — He was an intelligent scientist.
- generous: cömert — She was generous to everyone.
- creative: yaratıcı — He was a creative inventor.
- ambitious: hırslı / azimli — They were ambitious students.
Biography Structure (Biyografi Yapısı)
- Introduction: Kim olduğu ve neden ünlü olduğu.
- Early life: Doğum yeri, tarihi ve eğitimi.
- Major achievements: Başlıca başarıları ve icatları.
- Later life and legacy: Son yılları ve mirası.
Reading: Thomas Edison
Thomas Edison was born in Ohio, the USA, in 1847. As a child, he was curious and asked many questions. He only attended school for a few months, but he never stopped learning. In 1879, he invented the first practical light bulb. He also developed the phonograph and improved the telephone. Edison did not give up after his failures. He once said, "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." He became one of the most famous inventors in history and inspired millions of people around the world.
Writing a Short Biography
A short biography tells a person's life in order. Writers usually start with birth and family, continue with main achievements and end with the person's death or legacy. The main tense is the past simple.
Time connectors such as then, after that, later and finally keep the story clear. Relative clauses with who and which add extra information about the person without breaking the flow of the text.
Sınav Odaklı: Biyografi Kalıpları ve Zaman İfadeleri
Biyografi sorularında en çok be born in, be famous for ve pass away in kalıpları ölçülür: Marie Curie was born in Warsaw in 1867 and is famous for her research on radioactivity. Yer ve yıl için in, gün için on kullanılır: on 7 November 1867 biçiminde yazılır.
Zaman sırasını korumak için then, after that ve finally gibi bağlaçlar kullanılır. Biyografide ana zaman past simpledir; ancak kişinin etkisi hâlâ sürüyorsa present perfect de görülebilir: He has inspired generations of scientists. Bu iki zamanı ayıran şey, olayın geçmişte bitip bitmediği değil, bugüne taşınıp taşınmadığıdır.
Ne Öğreneceğiz
In this lesson you will learn how to write about a person's life in English. You will study the vocabulary of achievement — discover, invent, found, achieve, contribute to, inspire, receive an award, leave a legacy — and the nouns that name the person: scientist, inventor, explorer, leader, poet, composer, activist.
You will also learn the four-part structure of a biography: introduction, early life, major achievements, later life and legacy. A biography that follows this order is easy to read and easy to mark.
Finally you will use the past simple and the connecting words that keep a life story in order — in, in that year, later, after that, finally, during his lifetime — and the relative clause with who to add information about a person without starting a new sentence.
Ön Bilgi
You need three things before you write a biography.
First, the past simple, because a biography is a sequence of finished events. You also need the passive for actions that were done to the person or by unknown people: He was awarded the Nobel Prize, The school was founded in 1923.
Second, the pattern was / were born in + year and was / were famous for + noun / -ing. These two patterns appear in almost every biography text and in almost every exam item.
Third, the relative clause with who: Marie Curie, who discovered radium, was a Polish scientist. You need who for people. For things you may also meet which, but in this topic the relative clause usually describes a person.
Basit Örnek ve Günlük Yaşam
Read this short biography and notice how it follows the four parts.
Marie Curie was a Polish scientist who discovered radium. She was born in Warsaw in 1867 and studied at the Sorbonne in Paris. In 1903 she received the Nobel Prize in Physics, and in 1911 she won a second Nobel Prize, this time in Chemistry. She worked under difficult conditions for many years. Her research changed medicine and she is still remembered as one of the greatest scientists in history.
The first sentence gives the name and the achievement. The second gives the early life. The third and fourth give the achievements. The last sentence gives the legacy.
Write a similar six-sentence text about a person you admire, keeping the same order.
Adım Adım Çözülmüş Örnek
Follow these six steps to write a biography.
- Step 1 — Name the person and the main achievement in one sentence. Mustafa Kemal was a leader who founded the Republic of Turkey. Use a relative clause with who.
- Step 2 — Give birth and education. He was born in Thessaloniki in 1881 and graduated from the military academy. Remember in with years and cities.
- Step 3 — Give the main achievements with dates. In 1919 he started the national struggle, and in 1923 he proclaimed the Republic.
- Step 4 — Add one difficulty. Although the years were hard, he never gave up. This shows judgement, not only facts.
- Step 5 — Describe the legacy. His reforms still affect Turkish life today. If the effect continues, you may use the present perfect: He has inspired generations.
- Step 6 — Check the tenses. Events take the past simple; a continuing effect takes the present simple or the present perfect.
Karşılaştırma Tablosu
Job nouns and achievement verbs are often confused. Use this table to choose the right pair.
| Person | Typical verb | Typical object | Example |
|---|
| scientist | discover | a fact, an element, a law | She discovered a new element. |
| inventor | invent | a machine, a device | He invented a new engine. |
| explorer | explore | a place, a route | They explored the river. |
| leader | lead, found | a movement, a state | He led the movement. |
| writer | write | a book, a poem | She wrote several novels. |
| activist | fight for | a right, a cause | He fought for equal rights. |
| athlete | win | a medal, a title | She won a gold medal. |
Careful: you discover something that already exists and invent something that did not exist before. The verbs cannot be exchanged.
Sık Yapılan Hatalar
Six mistakes are common in biography writing.
- Writing born in 1881 in Thessaloniki in the wrong order. The usual order is was born in + year + in + place, or the place first: was born in Thessaloniki in 1881. Do not put the place between born and the year without in.
- Using born on with a year. Years and months take in: born in 1881; only full dates take on: born on 7 November 1881.
- Saying He was dead in 1931. Use died or passed away: He died in 1931.
- Confusing who and which. For people always use who: the scientist who discovered radium, not the scientist which discovered.
- Mixing famous with popular. Famous for states the reason people know the person; popular with states who likes them.
- Writing he winned. The past of win is won, not winned.
Özet
A biography is a past-tense text with a fixed shape.
- Structure: introduction and main achievement, early life, main achievements with dates, later life and legacy.
- Key patterns: was born in, was famous for, died in, is remembered as, is known for.
- Verbs of achievement: discover, invent, explore, found, achieve, contribute to, inspire, receive, win.
- Person nouns: scientist, inventor, explorer, leader, poet, composer, activist, athlete.
- Tenses: past simple for events; present simple or present perfect for a continuing effect.
- Extra information: a relative clause with who keeps the sentence short and the text flowing.
Kendini Dene
Answer in full sentences and then check the key.
- Complete: Marie Curie was born ____ Warsaw ____ 1867.
- Choose the correct sentence: (a) The scientist which discovered radium was famous. (b) The scientist who discovered radium was famous. (c) The scientist whose discovered radium was famous.
- Rewrite correctly: He was dead in 1938.
- Fill in: She is famous ____ her research on radioactivity.
- Give the past form of: win, found, write, become.
- Write a six-sentence biography of a person you admire. Use one relative clause with who and two dates.
Answer key: 1) in... in — both the city and the year take in. 2) (b) — who is used for people. 3) He died in 1938. 4) for — the fixed pattern is be famous for. 5) won, founded, wrote, became. 6) Any correct text, e.g. Yunus Emre was a Turkish poet who lived in the thirteenth century. He was born in Anatolia and spent his life travelling from town to town. He wrote poems about love and tolerance. His work is still read today and he is remembered as one of the greatest voices of Turkish literature.
