Doksan öğrenci odaya girdi.

the room

Breakdown of Doksan öğrenci odaya girdi.

• girmek: to enter
• öğrenci: the student
• doksan: ninety

Questions & Answers about Doksan öğrenci odaya girdi.

Why is öğrenci singular? Shouldn’t it be öğrenciler for students?

After a number, Turkish normally uses the noun in the singular form.

So:

doksan öğrenci = ninety students

Even though English uses a plural noun after numbers, Turkish usually does not. Using öğrenciler after doksan would sound non-neutral in ordinary Turkish.

What does odaya mean, and why does it end with -ya?

Oda means room.

The ending -(y)a / -(y)e is the dative case, often meaning to, into, toward.

So:

oda → odaya = to the room / into the room

The y appears because oda ends in a vowel. Turkish often inserts a buffer consonant between two vowels:

oda + a → odaya

Why does Turkish use the dative case here? In English we just say enter the room.