Ben dışarıda yürüyorum, çünkü yol kirli.

I

Breakdown of Ben dışarıda yürüyorum, çünkü yol kirli.

• çünkü: because
• yol: the road
• dışarıda: outside
• yürümek: to walk
• kirli: dirty

Questions & Answers about Ben dışarıda yürüyorum, çünkü yol kirli.

What does Ben mean in this sentence?

Ben is the Turkish pronoun for I. Even though Turkish is a pro-drop language (meaning the subject pronoun can be omitted because it’s evident from the verb conjugation), including Ben emphasizes that the speaker is referring to themselves.

How is the present continuous form used in yürüyorum constructed?

The verb yürüyorum comes from the base verb yürümek (to walk). To form the present continuous tense, the suffix -yor is added after the verb stem, and then the first person singular ending -um (adjusted by vowel harmony) is attached. This results in yürüyorum, which means I am walking.

What does dışarıda mean, and how is it formed?

Dışarıda means outside. It is created by taking dışarı (meaning outside) and adding the locative suffix -da, which indicates the location where an action takes place.

Why is there a comma before çünkü in the sentence?

The comma separates the main clause from the subordinate clause. Çünkü means because, and it introduces the reason for the main action. The comma helps to clearly demarcate the two parts of the sentence, making the cause-and-effect relationship easy to understand.

Why doesn’t the sentence include an article like "the" before yol, even though the translation is “the road is dirty”?

Turkish does not use articles such as the or a/an. The definiteness of a noun is determined by the context rather than by a specific word. Therefore, yol kirli is understood as referring to the road without an article.

Is it necessary to include the subject pronoun Ben in this sentence?

No, it is not necessary because the verb ending in yürüyorum already indicates that the subject is I. However, using Ben can add emphasis or clarity, especially for learners or in contexts where the speaker wants to stress the subject.