Arkadaşım, arabasını yıkattı.

My friend had his car washed.

Breakdown of Arkadaşım, arabasını yıkattı.

• benim: my
• arkadaş: the friend
• onun: his
• araba: the car
• yıkatmak: to have washed

Questions & Answers about Arkadaşım, arabasını yıkattı.

What does arkadaşım mean in this sentence?

Arkadaşım means "my friend." It comes from "arkadaş" (friend) with the first-person singular possessive suffix -ım added to indicate possession (my friend).

How is arabasını constructed and what does it mean?

Arabasını is built from the noun "araba" (car). First, the third-person singular possessive suffix -sı is attached, turning it into "arabası" (his/her car). Then, because the car is a definite direct object in the sentence, the accusative case marker -nı (shown here as -ı due to vowel harmony) is added. Thus, arabasını means "his/her car" as the object of the sentence.

What does yıkattı mean, and how is it different from yıkadı?

Yıkattı is the past tense of the causative verb "yıkatmak," which means "to have something washed" or "to get something washed." Its use implies that the subject arranged for someone else to wash the car instead of washing it themselves. In contrast, yıkadı (from "yıkamak") would mean "washed," suggesting the subject did the washing personally.

Why is the accusative case marker used in arabasını?

In Turkish, when a definite direct object is present, the accusative case marker is added to the noun. In this case, after forming "arabası" (his/her car) with the possessive suffix, the accusative marker -nı (or -ı following vowel harmony) is attached to show that the car is the definite object of the verb yıkattı.

What is the sentence structure of "Arkadaşım, arabasını yıkattı" and does the comma after arkadaşım have any special significance?

The sentence follows the typical Turkish Subject-Object-Verb (SOV) order: arkadaşım is the subject, arabasını is the object, and yıkattı is the verb. The comma after arkadaşım is used to create a slight pause or to add emphasis; it is stylistic and does not affect the grammatical structure of the sentence.