Learn Hardcore Turkish: Okul spor salonunun dışında küçük bir havuz bulunuyor. - There is a small pool outside the school gym.

The sentence translates to "There is a small pool located outside the school sports hall." It indicates that, in the area outside the school's sports facility, one can find a small pool.

How is possession expressed in the phrase "Okul spor salonunun"?

In Turkish, possession and relationships between nouns are shown with suffixes. Here, "spor salonu" means "sports hall" (or "gym"), and the genitive suffix "-nun" (which is a variation of "-un/‑ın/‑in" depending on vowel harmony) is added to indicate "of the sports hall." Combined with "Okul" (meaning "school"), it implies the sports hall that belongs to or is associated with the school. This genitive construction is necessary when a noun is paired with certain postpositions.

Why is the noun phrase "Okul spor salonu" modified to "Okul spor salonunun" when used with "dışında"?

In Turkish, when using a locative postposition like "dışında" (meaning "outside of"), the noun preceding it must be put in the genitive case. Therefore, "spor salonu" takes the ending "-nun" to become "spor salonunun" so that it properly connects with "dışında." This structure clearly indicates that the location being referred to is outside the school’s sports hall.

What does the verb "bulunuyor" mean, and why is it used in this sentence?

"Bulunuyor" is the third person singular form of the verb "bulunmak," which means "to be located" or "to be found." In this sentence, it expresses the existence and location of the small pool. While Turkish also uses "var" as an existential verb to mean "there is/are," "bulunuyor" emphasizes the state of being situated in a specific place—outside the school sports hall.

Is "küçük bir havuz" considered the subject of this sentence, and how does Turkish handle such structures?

In Turkish, sentences that use existential verbs like "bulunuyor" often do not have an explicitly marked subject in the same way as English sentences. Although "küçük bir havuz" (meaning "a small pool") is the entity whose existence is being noted, the focus is on its location. Turkish commonly employs such constructions to emphasize where something is rather than who or what performs an action, so an explicit subject isn’t necessary.

What is the role of the word "bir" in "küçük bir havuz"?

The word "bir" functions as an indefinite article, similar to "a" or "an" in English. It tells us that we are referring to one, non-specific instance of a small pool rather than a particular pool already known to the speaker or listener.