Bir Alman yolu sordu.

a

Breakdown of Bir Alman yolu sordu.

• yol: the way
• sormak: to ask
• Alman: a German person

Questions & Answers about Bir Alman yolu sordu.

What does each word in Bir Alman yolu sordu do?

A simple breakdown is:

• bir = a/an or one
• Alman = German (a German person)
• yolu = the way / the road or, more naturally here, the way
• sordu = asked

So the structure is:

• Bir Alman = the subject, a German
• yolu = the object, the way
• sordu = the verb, asked

Why is the verb at the end?

Because the most neutral Turkish word order is Subject + Object + Verb.

So:

• Bir Alman = subject
• yolu = object
• sordu = verb

This is very normal in Turkish. English usually prefers A German asked the way, with the verb in the middle, but Turkish typically puts the main verb last.

What does bir mean here? Is it a or one?

Here, bir most naturally means a/an.

So Bir Alman means a German.

However, bir can also mean one, depending on context and stress. For example:

• Bir Alman geldi. = A German came or One German came

In your sentence, the usual reading is just a German.