Favori ilk soruyu bilemedi.

The -yu is the accusative case ending. In Turkish, a specific/definite direct object usually takes the accusative.

• soru = question
• soruyu = the question / the specific question

Since this sentence is talking about a particular question, ilk soru (the first question), Turkish marks it as a definite object:

• ilk soruyu = the first question

If there were no accusative, it would sound more indefinite or non-specific in many contexts.

This is one of the most important things to notice in the sentence.

bilemedi comes from:

• bil- = know
• -e- = part of the potential/ability form
• -me- = negative
• -di = past tense

So bilemedi literally means something like was not able to know or could not answer/get right.

By contrast:

• bilmedi = did not know

In quiz/test contexts, Turkish often uses soruyu bilmek to mean to know the answer to the question / to get the question right. So:

• ilk soruyu bilmedi = he/she didn’t know the answer
• ilk soruyu bilemedi = he/she couldn’t answer it / failed to get it right

In many contexts, bilemedi sounds more natural here.

No. That is a very common confusion.

In this sentence, bilemedi is one verb form, not bile + medi.

Here, -e- is part of the verb structure that gives the idea of ability/possibility, and -me- is the negative. So:

• bilemedi = couldn’t know / couldn’t answer

This is different from the separate word bile meaning even.

For example:

• Favori bile ilk soruyu bilemedi. = Even the favorite couldn’t answer the first question.

In your sentence, there is no separate even.

Literally, yes, word-for-word it looks like know the question, but in actual Turkish usage it often means:

• to know the answer to the question
• to get the question right

This is especially common in contexts like:

• quizzes
• game shows
• exams
• trivia competitions

So a learner should not interpret it too mechanically. In English, we would normally say know the answer rather than know the question, but Turkish often expresses it as soruyu bilmek.

Here favori is being used like a noun, meaning something like:

• the favorite
• the frontrunner
• the expected winner

So in this sentence, Favori is the subject.

Turkish often allows words that can be adjectives in English to function as nouns depending on context. So favori here is not modifying another noun; it stands alone.

Because Turkish does not have a definite article like English the.

So Turkish often relies on:

• context
• word order
• case endings
• shared knowledge

to show whether something is definite or not.

That means Favori can naturally mean the favorite if the context makes it clear.

Similarly:

• ilk soruyu is understood as the first question

even though there is no separate word for the.

No. ilk is functioning as an adjective here, modifying soruyu.

• ilk = first
• ilk soru = first question

In Turkish, adjectives do not agree with nouns in number or case. The noun gets the ending, not the adjective.

So:

• ilk soru
• ilk soruyu
• ilk soruda

The word ilk stays the same each time.

It is in the simple past tense.

Breakdown:

• bil- = know
• -e- = ability/potential element
• -me- = negation
• -di = past tense

So the whole verb means:

• couldn’t know
• was unable to answer
• failed to get right

The -di ending is the past tense marker, though its form changes by vowel harmony and consonant voicing in other verbs.

This is the normal Turkish pattern:

• Subject + Object + Verb

So:

• Favori = subject
• ilk soruyu = object
• bilemedi = verb

Turkish is quite flexible with word order, but the verb usually comes last in neutral sentences.

This version sounds natural and unmarked. A different order could be used for emphasis, for example:

• İlk soruyu favori bilemedi.
• Favori bilemedi ilk soruyu. (more marked, less neutral)

But the sentence you were given is the standard, straightforward order.

No. Turkish does not mark grammatical gender in this way.

So bilemedi can mean:

• he couldn’t answer
• she couldn’t answer
• it couldn’t answer (less likely here)
• or simply the favorite couldn’t answer

Because the subject is explicitly Favori, there is no need for a pronoun, and nothing in the verb tells you male vs female.

Not exactly.

• Favori = the favorite / the frontrunner
• Favorim = my favorite

So:

• Favori ilk soruyu bilemedi. = The favorite couldn’t answer the first question.
• Favorim ilk soruyu bilemedi. = My favorite couldn’t answer the first question.

The -m in favorim is the first-person possessive ending: my.