Learn Hardcore Turkish: Sabah yolda gördüğün kişi, babamın sürekli alışveriş yaptığı marketin sahibiydi. - The person you saw on the street this morning was the owner of the market my father constantly shops at.

“Gördüğün” is a relative clause adjective that modifies “kişi” (person). It comes from the verb “görmek” (to see) and, by adding the appropriate relative clause suffix (–düğün), it means “that you saw.” In Turkish, relative clauses are placed before the noun they modify, which is why “gördüğün” appears before “kişi.”

Why is there a comma right after “kişi” in this sentence?

The comma is used to help demarcate the structure of the sentence. In this case, the entire subject— “Sabah yolda gördüğün kişi” (the person you saw on the road in the morning)—is quite long and complex. Placing a comma after it clarifies that the following part, “babamın sürekli alışveriş yaptığı marketin sahibiydi,” is the predicate. Although Turkish punctuation rules can be more flexible than English ones, using the comma here improves readability.

How is possession expressed in the phrases “babamın” and “marketin sahibiydi”?

Turkish indicates possession by adding genitive case suffixes. “Babamın” is formed by attaching the suffix –ın to “babam” (my father), meaning “of my father.” Similarly, “marketin” uses the –in suffix to show that it belongs to something—in this context, “the market.” When you see “marketin sahibi,” it literally means “the owner of the market.”

How does the relative clause “alışveriş yaptığı” function within the sentence?

The clause “alışveriş yaptığı” modifies “marketin.” It comes from the verb phrase “alışveriş yapmak” (to shop). With the addition of the relative clause suffix –dığı, it translates to “that (was) shopped at” or “where (my father) shopped.” The adverb “sürekli” (constantly/regularly) further emphasizes that the action was habitual. This whole phrase describes the market associated with “babamın.”

How does the word order in this Turkish sentence compare to typical English sentence structure?

Turkish often follows a Subject–Object–Verb (SOV) order and places modifiers such as adjectives and relative clauses before the noun they qualify. In this sentence, for example, “gördüğün” (that you saw) comes before “kişi” (person), and the entire subject is presented before the predicate. In contrast, English typically uses a Subject–Verb–Object (SVO) order and places relative clauses after the noun. This difference in structure is one of the key aspects that learners need to adapt to when studying Turkish.