Balık dün öldü.

The fish died yesterday.

Breakdown of Balık dün öldü.

• balık: the fish
• dün: yesterday
• ölmek: to die

Questions & Answers about Balık dün öldü.

Why is there no word for the or a in Balık?

Turkish does not have articles like English the and a/an.

So balık can mean things like:

• the fish
• a fish
• sometimes just fish, depending on context

In this sentence, the context usually makes it natural to understand balık as the fish or a fish.

How do I know balık is the subject here?

Because öldü means died, and to die is an intransitive verb. That means it does not take a direct object.

So in Balık dün öldü, balık must be the thing that died, not the thing something happened to.

In other words:

• balık = the subject
• öldü = died
• dün = yesterday

What does öldü break down into?

Öldü comes from the verb ölmek, meaning to die.

Here is the basic breakdown:

• öl- = verb stem, die
• -dü = past tense ending

So öldü means he/she/it died.

Turkish verbs already show the person, so you do not need a separate subject pronoun like it.

Why is there no separate word for it in this sentence?