Öğrenci makaleyi dikkatle inceliyor.

The student is examining the article carefully.

Breakdown of Öğrenci makaleyi dikkatle inceliyor.

• incelemek: to examine
• öğrenci: the student
• makale: the article
• dikkatle: carefully

Questions & Answers about Öğrenci makaleyi dikkatle inceliyor.

Why does makale become makaleyi in this sentence?

makaleyi carries the accusative case suffix -yi, marking a definite direct object. In Turkish, when you talk about a specific, known object (“the article”), you add the appropriate accusative ending.
• makale = “an article” (indefinite)
• makaleyi = “the article” (definite, marked by -yi)

What tense and aspect does the suffix -(i)yor in inceliyor indicate?

The suffix -(i)yor marks the present continuous (progressive) tense, showing that the action is ongoing. Due to vowel harmony (the last vowel in incele- is a front unrounded e), -(i)yor appears as -iyor, giving inceliyor = “is examining.”

How do you attach -(i)yor when the verb stem ends in a vowel, as with incele-?

When a stem ends in a vowel, Turkish inserts a buffer consonant y before -or and drops one of the adjacent vowels to avoid collision. The process looks like this:

1. Root = incele-
2. Add buffer y
   • -or (with i from harmony) → incele
     • y
       • or
3. One e drops → inceliyor

Why is it inceliyor and not inceleniyor?

They come from different stems:
• incele- + -iyor (active) → inceliyor = “he/she is examining.”
• incelen- + -iyor (passive) → inceleniyor = “it is being examined.”
In this sentence the student is doing the examining, so we use the active form inceliyor.

What is dikkatle, and how is this adverb formed?

dikkatle means “carefully.” It’s formed by adding the instrumental/adverbial suffix -le to the noun dikkat (“care, attention”). This suffix turns many nouns into manner adverbs.

Can you also say dikkatlice? What’s the difference between -le and -ca/-ce adverbial endings?

Both dikkatle and dikkatlice exist, but dikkatle is by far the usual choice.
• -le attaches to nouns to make straightforward manner adverbs.
• -ca/-ce often attaches to adjectives or conveys a sense of “kind of” or “slightly,” and is less common for pure manner adverbs.

Turkish doesn’t have words for “a” or “the.” How is definiteness shown here?

Turkish has no standalone articles. Definiteness on direct objects is indicated by the accusative case suffix (-yi on makale → makaleyi = “the article”). Indefinite objects stay unmarked or get bir (“a”).

Do you have to include öğrenci (the subject), or can it be dropped?

You can drop it. Turkish is a pro-drop language: verb endings signal person and number.
• Öğrenci makaleyi dikkatle inceliyor. (explicit subject)
• Makaleyi dikkatle inceliyor. (subject omitted, understood from context)

What is the typical word order in Turkish, and how does this sentence reflect it?

The default word order is Subject–Object–Adverb–Verb (S-O-Adv-V). Here:
• Öğrenci (S)
• makaleyi (O)
• dikkatle (Adv)
• inceliyor (V)
This structure is flexible but the verb almost always comes last.

How do you pronounce the tricky letters in Öğrenci makaleyi dikkatle inceliyor?

• Öğrenci: ğ (yumuşak ge) doesn’t sound like a consonant but lengthens the preceding ö → [œː-ren-ci].
• c is /dʒ/ as in “judge”: inceliyor = [in-dʒe-li-yor].
• Double consonants like kk in dikkatle are held longer: [dikːat-le].
• Stress in Turkish generally falls on the last syllable of each word: öğrenci, makaleyi, dikkatle, inceliyor.