Learn Hardcore Turkish: Ders çalışan öğrenci, ödevini kontrol eden hocaya teşekkür etti. - The student who studies thanked the teacher who checked his homework.

It literally translates as "the student who studies" or "the student working on his/her lesson." In Turkish, the participial phrase ders çalışan (derived from the verb çalışmak) comes before the noun öğrenci to describe which student is being referred to.

How is the relative clause ödevini kontrol eden hocaya structured, and what does it tell us about the teacher?

The clause ödevini kontrol eden is a relative (or participial) clause that modifies hocaya. It literally means "the one who checks (or checked) his/her homework" and specifies which teacher is meant. Although the clause immediately follows hoca, the possessive suffix -ini on ödev creates an ambiguity. Based on context—since it makes sense for a teacher to check a student’s homework rather than his own—the homework is understood to belong to the student who is giving thanks.

Why is hocaya in the dative case in this sentence?

In Turkish, the verb teşekkür etmek (to thank) requires its complement (the person who is being thanked) to be in the dative case. The form hocaya is the dative of hoca (teacher), so it means "to the teacher."

How is the past tense expressed in the verb phrase teşekkür etti?

The verb etmek (to do/make) is used here with teşekkür to form the expression teşekkür etmek (to thank). The form teşekkür etti includes the past tense suffix -di, indicating that the action of thanking occurred in the past.

How does Turkish word order in this sentence differ from that of English?

In Turkish, modifiers such as adjectives and relative clauses come before the nouns they modify. For example, ders çalışan precedes öğrenci and ödevini kontrol eden comes before hocaya. In English, by contrast, relative clauses generally follow the noun (e.g., "the student who studies" or "the teacher who checked his homework").

How is possession indicated in the relative clause ödevini kontrol eden, and what does it imply in context?

Possession is marked by the suffix -ini attached to ödev. This suffix indicates a third person singular possessive (his/her/its). Although the relative clause modifies hocaya (the teacher), the natural interpretation in context is that it is the student’s homework being checked. Turkish often allows the possessor in a relative clause to be inferred from context rather than strictly coming from the immediately modified noun.