Learn Hardcore Turkish: Yemekten sonra lavaboyu ve sehpayı birlikte temizlemeliyiz. - We should clean the sink and the coffee table together after the meal.

sonra is a postposition meaning “after,” and it requires its noun in the ablative case. To form the ablative of yemek you add -ten (with vowel harmony), giving yemekten, then place sonra after it. Hence yemekten sonra = “after the meal.”

Why do lavaboyu and sehpayı have the suffix -(y)I?

In Turkish, definite direct objects are marked with the accusative suffix -(y)I (with four vowel variants). Since you’re referring to a specific sink and table, both lavabo and sehpa take that suffix, becoming lavaboyu and sehpayı.

Why is there a y before the vowel in lavaboyu and sehpayı, and how do we choose the right vowel variant?

When a noun ends in a vowel, Turkish inserts a buffer consonant y before a suffix that starts with a vowel to avoid two vowels clashing. The suffix -(y)I has four forms—-ı, -i, -u, -ü—chosen by vowel harmony:
• lavabo ends in o (back & rounded) → use u → lavabo + y + u = lavaboyu
• sehpa ends in a (back & unrounded) → use ı → sehpa + y + ı = sehpayı

What does the ending -meliyiz in temizlemeliyiz mean, and how is it constructed?

-meli/-malı is the necessity suffix (“must/should”) and attaches to the verb stem:
• temizle (to clean) + -meli → temizlemeli (“must clean”)
Then add the 1st person plural ending -yiz (“we”) → temizlemeli + yiz = temizlemeliyiz (“we must clean”).

Why is the verb temizlemeliyiz placed at the end of the sentence?

Turkish typically follows Subject–Object–Verb (SOV) word order. Even with adverbs or multiple objects, the finite verb normally appears last.

What kind of word is birlikte, and where can it appear in this sentence?

birlikte is an adverb meaning “together.” Adverbs in Turkish are fairly flexible: they most often precede the verb but can also be placed earlier or later in the clause for emphasis. Here it’s right before the verb: …birlikte temizlemeliyiz.

Is there another way to express “we must clean” in Turkish besides temizlemeliyiz?

Yes. You can use the structure -memiz gerekiyor (“it is necessary that we…”):
Yemekten sonra lavaboyu ve sehpayı temizlememiz gerekiyor.
This literally means “It is necessary that we clean…” but conveys the same obligation.

Why isn’t the pronoun biz (“we”) used at the beginning of the sentence?

Turkish is a pro-drop language: the subject pronoun is often omitted because the verb ending (here -yiz) already indicates that the subject is “we.”