Çocuk zürafayı gördü.

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Breakdown of Çocuk zürafayı gördü.

• çocuk: the child
• zürafa: the giraffe

Questions & Answers about Çocuk zürafayı gördü.

Why is the verb gördü at the end of the sentence?

Turkish usually prefers Subject–Object–Verb order, so the most neutral version is:

• Çocuk = the child
• zürafayı = the giraffe
• gördü = saw

So literally, the order is:

Child giraffe saw.

That is normal in Turkish. English usually puts the verb in the middle, but Turkish often places it at the end.

Why does zürafa become zürafayı?

Because it is the direct object and it is specific/definite.

Turkish often marks a specific direct object with the accusative suffix. Here:

• zürafa = giraffe
• zürafayı = the giraffe / a specific giraffe

The ending here is -ı, but since the noun ends in a vowel, Turkish inserts a buffer consonant -y- first:

• zürafa + y + ı = zürafayı

So zürafayı means something like the giraffe or that specific giraffe as the object of the verb.

Why is there no ending on çocuk?

Because çocuk is the subject, and subjects in Turkish are normally in the nominative case, which usually has no visible ending.

So:

• çocuk = child / the child
• no extra suffix is needed to show that it is the subject

In this sentence, çocuk is simply the doer of the action.