Toplantıyı müteakip herkes yeni fikirleri tartıştı.

Following the meeting, everyone discussed new ideas.

Breakdown of Toplantıyı müteakip herkes yeni fikirleri tartıştı.

• yeni: new
• herkes: everyone
• fikir: the idea
• toplantı: the meeting
• tartışmak: to discuss
• müteakip: following

Questions & Answers about Toplantıyı müteakip herkes yeni fikirleri tartıştı.

In Toplantıyı müteakip, why is toplantı in the accusative form toplantıyı?

Because müteakip (in this use) behaves like a postposition that governs the accusative case.

• toplantı = meeting
• toplantı + y + ı → toplantıyı (accusative: “the meeting”)

The pattern is:

• [noun-ACC] + müteakip = “following [the noun] / after [the noun]”

So you say:

• Toplantıyı müteakip = “Following the meeting / After the meeting”

If you didn’t put -ı, the phrase would sound ungrammatical with müteakip in this structure.

Could we say Toplantıdan sonra instead of Toplantıyı müteakip? Is there any difference?

Yes, you can say:

• Toplantıdan sonra herkes yeni fikirleri tartıştı.

This is perfectly natural and means the same thing in everyday language.

Differences:

• Toplantıyı müteakip is formal / bureaucratic / written style, somewhat old-fashioned or official.
• Toplantıdan sonra is neutral, everyday Turkish.
• müteakip can also sound like “immediately following” in some contexts, whereas sonra is more general “after”.

In normal spoken Turkish, Toplantıdan sonra would be more common.

What exactly is müteakip? Is it an adjective, an adverb, or something like a preposition?

müteakip is:

1. A postposition when it comes after an accusative noun:

   • Toplantıyı müteakip = “after the meeting”
     Here it works like sonra, but it takes accusative, not ablative:
   • Toplantıdan sonra (ablative)
   • Toplantıyı müteakip (accusative)

2. An adjective when it comes before a noun:

   • müteakip toplantı = “the following/subsequent meeting”

So in your sentence, müteakip is functioning as a postposition.

How do you pronounce müteakip?

Syllables: mü-te-a-kip

Approximate pronunciation for an English speaker:

• mü – like French tu, German ü, or “u” in “dude” but with lips more rounded and tongue more forward
• te – like “teh”
• a – like “a” in “father”
• kip – like “keep” but with a shorter i and a clear p

Stress is on the last syllable: mü-te-a-KİP.

Why is the verb tartıştı in the singular, when herkes means “everyone (all people)”?

In Turkish, herkes is grammatically singular, even though it refers to many people.

• herkes = third person singular
• so the verb agrees with it: tartıştı (3rd singular past)

You normally do not say:

• ✗ Herkes … tartıştılar.

Correct is:

• Herkes yeni fikirleri tartıştı.

Why is it yeni fikirleri and not just yeni fikirler?

yeni fikirleri is the accusative form of “new ideas”:

• fikir = idea
• fikirler = ideas
• fikirler + i → fikirleri (accusative: “the ideas”)
• yeni fikirleri = “the new ideas”

In Turkish, the direct object takes the accusative ending when it is definite/specific:

• Herkes yeni fikirler tartıştı.
  → They discussed some new ideas (not specific which ones, more general).

• Herkes yeni fikirleri tartıştı.
  → They discussed the new ideas (specific ideas already known in the context).

Your sentence implies that both speaker and listener know which new ideas are being referred to.

What tense is tartıştı, and how is it formed from tartışmak?

tartıştı is the simple past tense (di’li geçmiş zaman).

Formation:

• Infinitive: tartışmak = to discuss, to debate
• Drop -mak: tartış-
• Add past suffix -dı/-di/-du/-dü or -tı/-ti/-tu/-tü (vowel harmony and consonant assimilation)
• Here: tartış + tı → tartıştı (he/she/it discussed)

So:

• (o) tartıştı = he/she/it discussed
• herkes tartıştı = everyone discussed

Why is there a -y- in toplantıyı?

The -y- is a buffer consonant (kaynaştırma ünsüzü). It’s used to make pronunciation smoother when adding a suffix that starts with a vowel to a word that ends with a vowel.

• toplantı ends with ı
• accusative ending here is -ı (vowel)
• two vowels would meet: toplantıı → not allowed
• insert -y-: toplantı + y + ı → toplantıyı

Other examples:

• araba + y + ı → arabayı (the car – accusative)
• soru + y + u → soruyu (the question – accusative)

Can I move Toplantıyı müteakip to a different position in the sentence?

Yes, Turkish word order is flexible, though some positions sound more natural.

Your original:

• Toplantıyı müteakip herkes yeni fikirleri tartıştı.

Other possible orders:

• Herkes toplantıyı müteakip yeni fikirleri tartıştı.
• Herkes yeni fikirleri toplantıyı müteakip tartıştı. (less common but still possible)

However, Toplantıyı müteakip is often used as a set phrase at the beginning of the sentence in formal Turkish, so the original word order feels especially natural in that register.

What is the difference between tartışmak and konuşmak here?

• tartışmak = to discuss, to debate, sometimes to “argue” (can imply examining different opinions, possibly disagreement)
• konuşmak = to talk, speak (more general, neutral)

Compare:

• Herkes yeni fikirleri tartıştı.
  → They discussed the new ideas (probably examined, debated them).

• Herkes yeni fikirler hakkında konuştu.
  → They talked about new ideas (more general chatting; not necessarily a structured discussion or debate).

Is toplantı related to the verb toplanmak?

Yes.

• toplanmak = to gather, to assemble, to meet
• toplantı = a meeting (a noun derived from that verb)

So toplantı is the event that happens when people toplanmak (gather together).