Seyirci pandomime güldü.

The audience laughed at the pantomime.

Breakdown of Seyirci pandomime güldü.

• seyirci: the audience
• gülmek: to laugh at
• pandomim: pantomime

Questions & Answers about Seyirci pandomime güldü.

Why does pandomim become pandomime here?

Because the verb gülmek (to laugh) normally takes the dative case in Turkish when you mean laugh at someone or something.

So:

• pandomim = mime / pantomime
• pandomime = to/at the mime

In English we say laugh at, but Turkish uses the dative ending -(y)e / -(y)a with gülmek.

So the pattern is:

• birine gülmek = to laugh at someone
• bir şeye gülmek = to laugh at something

That is why the sentence has pandomime, not just pandomim.

Why isn’t it pandomimi instead?

Because gülmek does not usually take a direct object in the accusative here.

Compare:

• pandomimi = the mime, as a direct object
• pandomime = to/at the mime

With gülmek, Turkish uses the dative, not the accusative:

• Ona güldüm. = I laughed at him/her.
• Şakaya güldük. = We laughed at the joke.

So Seyirci pandomimi güldü would sound wrong in standard Turkish for this meaning.

What does mean grammatically?