Akşam yemeğinde ızgara tavuk pişirdim.

Akşam yemeğinde ızgara tavuk pişirdim.
I grilled chicken for dinner.
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Questions & Answers about Akşam yemeğinde ızgara tavuk pişirdim.

Why does yemeğinde have both -i and -nde suffixes?

They are two separate suffixes on yemek (“meal”):

  • -i is the 3rd-person singular possessive, turning yemek into yemeği (“its meal”), which in Turkish idiom means “dinner” when paired with akşam.
  • -nde is the locative case (-de “in/at”) with a buffer n (needed because yemeği ends in a vowel), giving yemeğinde “at dinner.”
What is the rule for choosing -de vs -da, and why is there an n before it?

Turkish locative suffixes obey vowel harmony:

  • After front vowels (e, i, ö, ü) you use -de; after back vowels (a, ı, o, u) you use -da.
  • If the word ends in a vowel, you insert a buffer consonant n to avoid two vowels in a row.
    So yemeği (has front vowels “e, i”) + buffer n
    • locative de → yemeğinde.
Why doesn’t tavuk take an accusative suffix (like -u or -ı)?
In Turkish, only definite (specific) direct objects take the accusative suffix. Here ızgara tavuk (“grilled chicken”) is indefinite—“some grilled chicken”—so no accusative marker is needed.
How is pişirdim formed, and what does each part mean?

pişirdim breaks down into three elements:
1) pişir- = root pişmek (“to be cooked”) + causative -ir, giving “to cook” (transitive).
2) -di(-) = simple past tense marker.
3) -m = 1st person singular marker.
Altogether pişirdim = “I cooked.”

Why is the subject “I” not explicitly stated in the sentence?
Turkish often omits pronouns because the verb ending already signals the subject. The -m on pişirdim tells you the subject is “I.”
What is the basic word order in this sentence?

Turkish typically follows Subject-Object-Verb (SOV). Here we have:
1) Adverbial (time/place): Akşam yemeğinde (“at dinner”)
2) Object: ızgara tavuk (“grilled chicken”)
3) Verb: pişirdim (“I cooked”)
(The subject “I” is implied by the verb ending.)

What’s the difference between ızgara tavuk and ızgaralı tavuk?
  • ızgara tavuk uses ızgara as a borrowed noun functioning adjectivally: “grilled chicken.”
  • ızgaralı tavuk adds the suffix -lı (“with”/“having”), literally “chicken with grill,” also meaning “grilled chicken.”
    In everyday speech ızgara tavuk is more common on menus, but both are understood.