Bulaşık bezi kirli tabakları kolayca temizler.

Bulaşık bezi kirli tabakları kolayca temizler.
A dishcloth easily cleans dirty plates.

Breakdown of Bulaşık bezi kirli tabakları kolayca temizler.

tabak
the plate
kirli
dirty
temizlemek
to clean
kolayca
easily
bulaşık bezi
the dishcloth
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Questions & Answers about Bulaşık bezi kirli tabakları kolayca temizler.

What does bulaşık bezi literally mean?
  • bulaşık = “dishes”
  • bez = “cloth”
    Together, bulaşık bezi means “dishcloth.”
Why is there no English “a” or “the” before bulaşık bezi?
Turkish does not have definite or indefinite articles. A bare noun can be rendered as “a,” “an,” or “the” in English, depending on context. Here it’s understood generically as “a dishcloth.”
Why does tabakları end in -ları?

This ending actually combines two suffixes:

  1. -lar = plural marker → tabak (plate) + -lar → tabaklar (“plates”)
  2. -ı = accusative case marker for definite direct objects → tabaklar
    • -ı → tabakları (“the plates” as the object)
How is the verb temizler constructed?
  1. Root adjective temiz = “clean”
  2. Verb-forming suffix -le- → temizle- = “to clean”
  3. Aorist (simple present) 3rd person singular suffix -r → temizler = “it/he/she cleans”
Why does the sentence end with temizler?
Turkish follows a Subject-Object-Verb (SOV) word order. Verbs normally come at the end of the clause.
What does kolayca mean and how is it formed?
  • kolay = “easy”
  • Adverbial suffix -ca → kolayca = “easily”
Can I use kolaylıkla instead of kolayca?
Yes. kolaylıkla is another adverb (“easily”) formed as kolay + -lık (noun-forming) + -la (adverbial). Both are interchangeable in most contexts.
How would you negate the verb here?

Insert the negative suffix -me/-ma before the tense/person suffix:
• temizle- (to clean)
• temizle-­me-­r (does not clean)
So the sentence becomes:
Bulaşık bezi kirli tabakları kolayca temizlemez.

Why is it bulaşık bezi and not bulaşığın bezi?

In Turkish, many compound nouns are formed by directly juxtaposing two bare nouns (N1 + N2) when naming objects or tools.

  • bulaşık bezi = “dish cloth” (cloth for dishes)
    Had you said bulaşığın bezi, it would read “the cloth of that specific dish,” implying possession rather than naming the object.