Learn Hardcore Turkish: Kedi köpeğe benziyor.

In Turkish, when expressing resemblance with the verb benzemek (“to resemble”), the entity being compared—here, “dog”—is marked with the dative case. This case indicates the target of the similarity, essentially meaning “like” or “similar to” in this context.

Why is there no additional case ending on kedi (“cat”)?

The word kedi is the subject of the sentence and remains in its default, unmarked nominative form. In Turkish, subjects don’t receive an explicit case ending unless emphasis or a specific construction requires it.

What does the form benziyor tell us about the verb’s tense and aspect?

Benziyor is the present continuous form of the verb benzemek, indicating that the resemblance is a current, ongoing state or a general truth. Although it uses a present continuous form, it effectively translates to the simple present in English when stating that one thing resembles another.

How does the word order of Kedi köpeğe benziyor compare to that of an English sentence with the same meaning?

Turkish generally follows a Subject-Object-Verb (SOV) order, as seen here: kedi (subject) followed by köpeğe (object marked in the dative case) and then benziyor (verb). In contrast, English uses the Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) order—“The cat resembles the dog.”

Can this structure be used with other comparison sentences in Turkish?

Yes, many verbs expressing similarity in Turkish adopt a similar structure where the item of comparison takes the dative case. For instance, in a sentence like “Çocuk annesine benziyor” (“The child resembles his/her mother”), annesine is in the dative case, following the same pattern as köpeğe in the original sentence.