Sayaç okuması yanlış görünüyor.

This is because sayaç okuması is a common Turkish noun compound. In this pattern, the first noun stays plain, and the second noun takes the 3rd person possessive suffix.

So:

• okuma = reading
• okuması = its reading

The -sı appears because okuma ends in a vowel, so Turkish uses a buffer s before the possessive ending.

Not in the usual ownership sense. In Turkish, this possessive-looking form is very often used just to build compound nouns.

So sayaç okuması does not strongly mean the meter’s reading in an English possessive sense. It simply means meter reading as a set expression.

Here, görünüyor means looks or seems.

It comes from görünmek, which can mean:

• to appear
• to be visible
• to seem / look

In this sentence, the meaning is seems wrong or looks wrong.

Because görüyor comes from görmek = to see, while görünüyor comes from görünmek = to appear / seem / be visible.

So:

• görüyor = he/she/it sees
• görünüyor = he/she/it appears / seems / looks

In this sentence, the meter reading is not seeing anything; it is appearing wrong.

It is the present continuous form with -yor.

Breakdown:

• görün- = appear, seem
• -üyor = present continuous

Even though -yor is often taught as am/is/are ...ing, Turkish also uses it for many simple present meanings in natural English translation. So yanlış görünüyor is best translated as looks wrong or seems wrong, not necessarily is looking wrong.

Here it works as a predicate complement, meaning wrong / incorrect.

So yanlış görünüyor means appears wrong or looks incorrect. It is not directly modifying the noun the way an English adjective would in a wrong reading. Instead, it describes how the reading seems.

This follows a very normal Turkish pattern:

subject + complement + verb

So:

• Sayaç okuması = the meter reading
• yanlış = wrong
• görünüyor = seems/looks

Turkish usually puts the main verb at the end. That is why görünüyor comes last.

Turkish does not have articles like the or a/an in the same way English does.

So a bare noun like sayaç okuması can often mean:

• the meter reading
• a meter reading

The exact meaning depends on context. In a sentence like this, English usually uses the, but Turkish does not need to say it.

Yes, you can, and it means The meter reading is wrong.

The version with görünüyor is softer and more cautious:

• Sayaç okuması yanlış. = The meter reading is wrong.
• Sayaç okuması yanlış görünüyor. = The meter reading seems/looks wrong.

So görünüyor adds the idea of appearance or uncertainty.

No. You could also use words like hatalı depending on context.

For example:

• Sayaç okuması yanlış görünüyor. = The meter reading seems wrong.
• Sayaç okuması hatalı görünüyor. = The meter reading seems faulty/incorrect.

Yanlış is very common and natural in everyday Turkish. Hatalı can sound a bit more formal or technical.

For a question:

• Sayaç okuması yanlış görünüyor mu? = Does the meter reading look wrong?

For a negative:

• Sayaç okuması yanlış görünmüyor. = The meter reading does not seem wrong.

So the verb görünmek changes, while the rest of the sentence stays the same.