Tatlı yiyen arkadaşım cep telefonunu daima yanında taşıyor.

My friend who eats dessert always carries his cell phone with him.

Breakdown of Tatlı yiyen arkadaşım cep telefonunu daima yanında taşıyor.

• yemek: to eat
• benim: my
• arkadaş: the friend
• cep telefonu: the cell phone
• tatlı: the dessert
• daima: always
• yanında: with him
• taşımak: to carry

Questions & Answers about Tatlı yiyen arkadaşım cep telefonunu daima yanında taşıyor.

What does tatlı yiyen mean and how is it formed?

Tatlı yiyen literally translates to “sweet-eating”. It is formed by attaching the participial suffix -en to the verb stem yiy- (from yemek, meaning “to eat”), which turns the verb into an adjective. This construction functions much like the English relative clause “who eats sweets” modifying arkadaşım.

How is possession indicated in cep telefonunu without explicitly saying “my friend’s cellphone”?

In Turkish, when the possessor is clear from context (in this case, the subject arkadaşım), a possessive suffix is added directly to the object. The -u in telefonunu agrees with the subject, indicating that the cellphone belongs to the friend. This construction avoids the longer form “arkadaşımın cep telefonu” while still conveying ownership.

Why is the verb taşıyor in the present continuous form even though the sentence describes a habitual action?

Taşıyor is in the present continuous form (using the -yor suffix), which is commonly used in Turkish to describe ongoing or habitual actions. The adverb daima (meaning “always”) reinforces that this is a repeated or habitual behavior, so even though it might seem to denote continuous action, it effectively communicates a regular occurrence.

What does daima yanında mean in this sentence?

Daima means “always”, and yanında means “by his side” or “with him”. Together, daima yanında indicates that the friend consistently carries his cellphone with him wherever he goes.

What is the word order of the sentence, and how does it differ from English?

Turkish typically uses a Subject-Object-Verb (SOV) word order. In this sentence, Tatlı yiyen arkadaşım serves as the subject, cep telefonunu is the object, and taşıyor is the verb. The adverbial phrase daima yanında is placed before the verb. In contrast, English usually follows a Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) structure.

How is a relative clause expressed in Turkish given that there is no explicit relative pronoun like “who” in this sentence?

Turkish uses participial constructions to form what would be a relative clause in English. By adding the suffix -en to the verb stem (in this case, from yemek), tatlı yiyen functions as an adjective modifying arkadaşım. This method seamlessly incorporates the relative meaning (i.e., “who eats sweets”) without using an explicit relative pronoun.