Cep telefonum bozuk.

to be

Breakdown of Cep telefonum bozuk.

• benim: my
• cep telefonu: the cell phone
• bozuk: broken

Questions & Answers about Cep telefonum bozuk.

What is the function of the -um suffix in cep telefonum?

The -um suffix is the first-person singular possessive ending, meaning my. Turkish has four variants (-ım/-im/-um/-üm) that follow vowel harmony. Since telefon ends in the back, rounded vowel o, we attach -um (not -im, -ım, or -üm) to get telefon-um (“my phone”).

Why don't we use benim in the sentence?

In Turkish, possession is usually shown with a suffix on the noun, so you don’t need the separate pronoun benim (“my”). The -um in telefon-um already means my. You could say Benim cep telefonum bozuk for emphasis or contrast, but in everyday speech benim is omitted.

Why is there no verb equivalent to “is” in Cep telefonum bozuk?

Modern Turkish drops the copula to be in the present tense. You simply place the subject (here, cep telefonum) followed by the predicate adjective (bozuk). The meaning “is broken” is understood without a separate word.

What part of speech is bozuk, and where does it come from?