Elim pis, onu yıkamalıyım.

Elim already means my hand.

It breaks down like this:

• el = hand
• -im = my

So elim = my hand.

You can also say benim elim, but benim is often unnecessary because the possessive suffix already shows whose hand it is. Using benim can add emphasis or contrast:

• Benim elim pis, seninki değil. = My hand is dirty, yours isn’t.

In an ordinary sentence, elim is the natural shorter form.

In Turkish, the verb to be is often omitted in the present tense.

So:

• Elim pis literally looks like my hand dirty
• but it means My hand is dirty

This is completely normal in Turkish. The present-tense copula is usually understood without being spoken.

Compare:

• O mutlu. = She/He is happy
• Hava soğuk. = The weather is cold
• Elim pis. = My hand is dirty

In past or other tenses, Turkish does show this more clearly:

• Elim pisti. = My hand was dirty

Pis means dirty.

It comes after elim because here it is not directly modifying the noun inside a noun phrase; it is acting as the predicate of the sentence:

• Elim pis. = My hand is dirty.

Compare these two patterns:

• pis el = dirty hand
  Here, pis directly describes the noun, so it comes before it.
• Elim pis. = My hand is dirty.
  Here, pis is the predicate, so it comes after.

This is similar to the difference between:

• a dirty hand
• my hand is dirty

Onu means it as a direct object.

In this sentence, it refers to elim / my hand:

• Elim pis, onu yıkamalıyım.
• My hand is dirty, I should wash it.

So onu is standing in for my hand to avoid repeating the noun.

Because o is the basic form, while onu is the direct-object form.

Turkish marks definite direct objects, and pronouns have special object forms:

• o = he / she / it / that
• onu = him / her / it

So:

• O burada. = He/She/It is here.
• Onu gördüm. = I saw him/her/it.

In your sentence, yıkamak takes a direct object, so Turkish uses onu.

Yes, absolutely.

• Elim pis, onu yıkamalıyım. = My hand is dirty, I should wash it.
• Elim pis, elimi yıkamalıyım. = My hand is dirty, I should wash my hand.

Both are grammatical.

In fact, elimi yıkamalıyım may feel clearer or more natural in some contexts, because it repeats the noun instead of using onu. Turkish allows either option, depending on style and context.

Yıkamalıyım means I should wash or I must wash depending on context.

It can be broken down like this:

• yıka- = wash
• -malı / -meli = should / must / need to
• -y- = buffer consonant
• -ım / -im / -um / -üm = first person singular ending, I

So:

• yıka-malı-y-ım = I should wash

Because of vowel harmony, the ending is -malı here, not -meli.

The y is a buffer consonant.

Turkish often inserts y between vowels to make pronunciation smoother. Without it, the word would have two vowels meeting awkwardly.

So:

• yıkamalı + ım becomes yıkamalıyım

This is very common in Turkish grammar.

This is because of vowel harmony.

The suffix has two main forms:

• -malı
• -meli

Which one you use depends on the vowels in the verb stem.

The stem here is yıka-, which contains back vowels, so it takes -malı:

• yıkamalı

Compare:

• gel- → gelmeli = should come
• git- → gitmeli = should go
• yap- → yapmalı = should do
• yıka- → yıkamalı = should wash

It can mean either, depending on context.

The suffix -malı / -meli often expresses:

• advice: should
• obligation: must / have to
• personal conclusion: I ought to

In this sentence, should wash it is a very natural translation:

• Elim pis, onu yıkamalıyım.

Because the speaker is recognizing a need or obligation. In stronger contexts, it could feel closer to must.

Because the ending already tells you the subject is I.

In Turkish, verb endings usually show the person:

• yıkamalıyım = I should wash
• yıkamalısın = you should wash
• yıkamalı = he/she/it should wash
• yıkamalıyız = we should wash

So ben is usually unnecessary unless you want emphasis:

• Ben yıkamalıyım. = I should wash (not someone else).

The sentence uses a very natural Turkish order:

• Elim pis, onu yıkamalıyım.

This is basically:

• statement of the situation first
• action second

Turkish word order is flexible, but this version sounds normal and clear.

You could change the order for emphasis, but the original is a straightforward default-like choice.

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

So Turkish simply says:

• el = hand / a hand / the hand
  depending on context

And:

• elim = my hand

The meaning is understood from context and from the possessive ending.

You can say Elim pis, yıkamalıyım, but it sounds incomplete in many situations because yıkamak usually expects an object: wash what?

So Turkish normally prefers:

• Elim pis, onu yıkamalıyım.
• Elim pis, elimi yıkamalıyım.

If the object is extremely obvious from context, it might be omitted in casual speech, but including it is clearer and more standard here.

Yes, it is grammatical and understandable.

A learner should also know that in everyday Turkish, many speakers might more naturally say:

• Elim pis, elimi yıkamalıyım.

Repeating elimi can sound a bit more direct and natural than using onu, especially with body parts. But onu yıkamalıyım is still correct and perfectly understandable.

Roughly:

• yı-ka-ma-lı-yım

A few pronunciation notes for English speakers:

• ı is the Turkish dotless i. It is not the same as English ee.
• yıka begins with y like English yes
• stress in Turkish often falls toward the end, but suffix-heavy words can sound fairly even to English ears

You do not need a perfect English equivalent for ı right away; the important thing is that it is different from i.

No. El means hand.

For arm, Turkish uses kol.

So:

• el = hand
• kol = arm

That means Elim pis specifically means My hand is dirty, not My arm is dirty.