Learn Hardcore Turkish: Öğretmen, öğrencilere projeyi dikkatlice incelemelerini söyledi. - The teacher told the students to examine the project carefully.

Öğretmen translates as “teacher” in English and functions as the subject of the main clause. It tells us who is performing the action of giving the instruction.

Why is öğrencilere in the dative case, and what does that imply?

Öğrencilere is in the dative case because it marks the indirect object of the sentence, indicating “to the students.” This shows who is receiving the instruction from the teacher.

Why is projeyi in the accusative case?

Projeyi is in the accusative case because it is a definite direct object. In Turkish, when referring to a specific, identifiable object like “the project,” the accusative marker is used.

What is the function of the adverb dikkatlice in the sentence?

Dikkatlice means “carefully” and serves as an adverb modifying the verb phrase. It describes how the project should be examined.

How is the reported command expressed with incelemelerini, and how is this form constructed?

İncelemelerini is a nominalized form of the verb incelemek (“to examine”) that is used to express an indirect command. It includes suffixes indicating the command applies to the students (inferred from context) and functions as the object of the main verb söyledi (“told”). This construction is typical in Turkish for reporting instructions or commands indirectly.

How does this sentence illustrate the way Turkish forms reported commands or indirect speech?

In Turkish, reported commands are often formed by nominalizing the verb with appropriate person and number suffixes, then linking it to a main verb like söyledi (“told”). In this sentence, the teacher’s instruction is embedded as incelemelerini, which, together with the recipients (öğrencilere) and the definite object (projeyi), neatly demonstrates the common structure for communicating indirect commands in Turkish.