Savaş uzun sürdü.

The dictionary form is sürmek.

In this sentence, sürdü is:

• the verb stem sür-
• plus the past tense ending -dü

So:

• sürmek = to last / to continue / to drive / to apply, depending on context
• sürdü = lasted

Here, the meaning is specifically to last, not the other meanings of sürmek.

That is a very common question, because sürmek has several meanings in Turkish.

Some common ones are:

• araba sürmek = to drive a car
• krem sürmek = to apply cream
• uzun sürmek = to last a long time

In Savaş uzun sürdü, the word uzun strongly points to the to last meaning. So learners should understand sürmek as a multi-meaning verb whose exact meaning depends on the words around it.

Yes, uzun is basically an adjective meaning long, but in Turkish adjectives are often also used in ways that English would express with an adverb.

So:

• uzun bir yol = a long road
• uzun sürdü = it lasted long / it lasted a long time

Turkish does not need a special -ly form here. English would usually say lasted a long time, but Turkish naturally says uzun sürdü.

Turkish usually puts the verb at the end of the sentence.

So this sentence is structured like:

• Savaş = subject
• uzun = description of duration
• sürdü = verb

That final-verb pattern is very typical in Turkish. English prefers The war lasted a long time, but Turkish naturally places sürdü at the end.

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

So savaş can mean:

• war
• the war

Which one is intended depends on context.

In a real conversation or text, listeners usually know whether it means war in general or the specific war being discussed.

In Turkish, the subject is normally in the basic form, with no special ending. This is often called the nominative form.

So:

• savaş = war
• no extra ending is needed because it is the subject

Turkish case endings usually show up on objects or other roles, not on a normal subject.

The past tense here is the simple past, often called the definite past in Turkish.

The ending changes shape because of vowel harmony and consonant harmony. The basic past tense ending can appear as:

• -dı
• -di
• -du
• -dü
• and after certain consonants, -tı / -ti / -tu / -tü

In sür-, the vowel is ü, so the matching past ending is -dü.

That gives:

• sür-
  • -dü → sürdü

Yes, effectively it is.

In this sentence, uzun describes the duration of the action, so in English we would think of it as doing an adverb-like job. Turkish often uses the same form without changing it.

So you can think of uzun here as:

• grammatically still the same word uzun
• functionally describing how long the war lasted

That is why it comes before the verb.

You can, but it changes the feel.

• Savaş uzun sürdü = neutral, standard
• Uzun sürdü savaş = marked, poetic, dramatic, or strongly focused on uzun sürdü

Turkish allows some flexibility in word order, but the neutral textbook order here is Savaş uzun sürdü.

Savaş most commonly means war.

Depending on context, it can sometimes refer more generally to warfare or fighting, but for a single battle, Turkish more often uses words like:

• savaş = war
• muharebe = battle
• kavga = fight, quarrel

So in this sentence, learners should primarily understand savaş as war.

Good question, because this sentence has both.

• ş is pronounced like sh in shoe
• ü is like the German ü or the French u; it is not the same as English oo

Roughly:

• savaş sounds like sa-vash
• sürdü has that rounded front vowel ü, which many English speakers need practice with

Also note:

• Turkish a is usually a clear ah sound
• Turkish pronunciation is fairly regular, so once you know the letters, reading gets easier

Yes, absolutely.

• Savaş uzun sürdü = The war lasted long / a long time
• Savaş çok uzun sürdü = The war lasted very long / a very long time

Adding çok makes the duration stronger. This is very natural Turkish.

They express different past meanings.

• sürdü = lasted, viewed as a completed whole
• sürüyordu = was lasting / was continuing, viewed as ongoing in the past

So:

• Savaş uzun sürdü focuses on the whole event and its duration
• Savaş sürüyordu would mean the war was still going on at that past moment

That is why sürdü is the natural choice for a simple statement about how long the war lasted.