Küçük kedi uyuyor.

The small cat is sleeping.

Breakdown of Küçük kedi uyuyor.

• küçük: small
• kedi: the cat
• uyumak: to sleep

Questions & Answers about Küçük kedi uyuyor.

What is the grammatical structure of Küçük kedi uyuyor. and how does it compare to English word order?

Turkish usually follows a Subject-Object-Verb order. In this sentence, there’s just a subject and a verb. The adjective küçük comes before the noun kedi (subject), followed by the verb uyuyor (“is sleeping”). While English sometimes follows a similar structure (e.g., “The little cat is sleeping”), Turkish strictly places adjectives before the noun and typically puts the verb at the end of the sentence.

Why is there no equivalent of the English definite article “the” before kedi?

Turkish does not have definite or indefinite articles. The noun kedi is used without any article, and its specificity (whether it’s “the cat” or just “a cat”) is understood from the context. This is a common feature in Turkish grammar that can be quite different from English usage.

How is the present continuous tense formed in this sentence with the verb uyuyor?

The present continuous tense in Turkish is created by adding the suffix -yor to the verb stem. Starting from the base verb uyumak (to sleep), the suffix turns it into uyuyor, which means “is sleeping.” The ending also carries the necessary subject agreement (third-person singular in this case), so no additional subject marker is needed.

Why is the adjective küçük placed before the noun kedi, and do adjectives always follow this order in Turkish?

In Turkish, adjectives always come directly before the noun they modify, much like in this example. The word küçük ("small" or "little") precedes kedi ("cat") without any change in form. Unlike some languages that might alter the adjective based on number or gender, Turkish adjectives remain invariable regardless of the noun’s characteristics.

Why doesn’t the sentence include a separate word for the copula “is” as in English “is sleeping”?

Turkish incorporates the meaning of the copula into the verb conjugation. The form uyuyor already implies “is sleeping” through its suffix, so there is no separate word for “is.” This feature means that in Turkish, the state of being (the copula) is built directly into the verb form.

What would change if the subject were plural—for example, if we meant “The little cats are sleeping”?

To express a plural subject in Turkish, a plural marker must be added to the noun. Instead of kedi, you would use kediler (using the -ler or -lar suffix depending on vowel harmony). Thus, “The little cats are sleeping” becomes Küçük kediler uyuyor. The verb form typically remains the same (or contextually understood as plural) since the subject’s number is already clearly indicated on the noun.