Onlar balık seviyor ama et sevmiyor.

They like fish but do not like meat.

Breakdown of Onlar balık seviyor ama et sevmiyor.

• sevmek: to love
• et: the meat
• balık: the fish
• ama: but
• onlar: they

Questions & Answers about Onlar balık seviyor ama et sevmiyor.

What does onlar mean and why is it used even though Turkish often drops subject pronouns?

Onlar means "they". Although Turkish verbs already indicate person, subject pronouns can be included for clarity or emphasis—here, to clearly show that a group (plural subject) is being talked about.

Why don’t the nouns balık and et take an accusative case suffix in this sentence?

In Turkish, when a direct object is indefinite, it typically appears without the accusative suffix. If the object were definite or specific, an accusative marker (such as -ı, -i, etc.) would be added. Since balık (fish) and et (meat) are used in a general sense here, no suffix is needed.

What is the function of ama in this sentence?

Ama means "but". It is a conjunction used to link two clauses with contrasting ideas—in this case, expressing that they like fish while they do not like meat.

How is the negative form of the verb constructed in sevmiyor?

To form the negative, Turkish adds the negative marker ma (or me following vowel harmony) to the verb stem sev- before the present tense ending -yor. This results in sevmiyor, meaning "does not like".

Which tense do the forms seviyor and sevmiyor represent in Turkish?

Both forms use what is commonly called the simple present (or present habitual) tense in Turkish. Although they resemble the present continuous form, they are used to express general habits or preferences, as in stating that someone likes or does not like something in general.

What word order does this sentence demonstrate, and how does it compare to English?

The sentence follows the typical Turkish Subject-Object-Verb (SOV) order. Onlar (subject) comes first, followed by balık or et (object), and finally seviyor or sevmiyor (verb). This contrasts with English, which usually uses a Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) order.