Learn Hardcore Turkish: Marketten ekstra elma aldım. - I bought extra apples from the market.

Marketten comes from the noun market (meaning "market") with the ablative case suffix attached to indicate "from." Because market ends with a voiceless consonant (t), the usual suffix -den undergoes a consonant change to -ten for phonetic harmony.

What does ekstra elma signify, and why isn’t elma in its plural form?

Ekstra elma means "extra apple(s)" where ekstra (borrowed from English) functions as an adjective meaning "additional" or "extra," and elma means "apple." In Turkish, when a noun is modified by adjectives or quantifiers, the plural marker is typically omitted even if the intended meaning is plural, so ekstra elma can mean extra apples without needing to change elma to its plural form.

Why is there no explicit subject like I in the sentence?

In Turkish, subject pronouns are frequently omitted because the verb itself carries information about the subject. The form aldım is conjugated in the first person singular simple past tense, which clearly indicates that the speaker is referring to themselves, making an explicit subject unnecessary.

How is the verb aldım structured, and what information does it convey?

The verb aldım comes from the root al-, meaning "to take" or "to buy." It is conjugated in the simple past tense for the first person singular by adding the suffix -dım. This suffix both indicates that the action happened in the past and that it was performed by the speaker (I), so aldım translates as "I took" or, in context, "I bought."

What is the overall word order of the sentence, and how does it differ from English?

Turkish commonly uses a Subject-Object-Verb (SOV) structure. In this sentence, even though the subject is omitted, the order still reflects SOV: the location from which something was obtained (marketten) comes first, followed by what was obtained (ekstra elma), and finally the verb (aldım). In contrast, English typically follows a Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) word order.

How does the ablative suffix change when attached to a noun like market?

The standard ablative suffix in Turkish is -den or -dan, depending on vowel harmony. However, if the noun ends with a voiceless consonant—as market does with its final t—the d in the suffix is devoiced to t. This phonetic adjustment results in marketten rather than marketden.