Learn Hardcore Turkish: Ütü ısınıyor.

Ütü (“iron”) is the subject of the sentence. In Turkish the subject is in the nominative case, which is unmarked—so you don’t add any endings or articles to it.

How is the verb ısınıyor built, and what does it mean?

The verb comes from the intransitive root ısın- (“to warm up, get warm”) plus the progressive tense suffix -ıyor. So ısın- + -ıyor = ısınıyor, literally “is warming up” or “is getting hot.”

Why is the suffix spelled -ıyor with ı instead of -iyor with i?

Turkish vowel harmony requires the suffix vowel to match the backness of the root’s final vowel. The root ısın- contains the back vowel ı, so the progressive suffix must use its back form -ıyor.

What’s the difference between ısınmak and ısıtmak, and how would that change this sentence?

• Isınmak is intransitive: something warms itself.
• Isıtmak is transitive: someone heats something.
If you used ısıtmak, you’d need the iron as an object in the accusative:
Ütüyü ısıtıyorum. = “I am heating the iron.”

What’s the word order in Ütü ısınıyor, and can it change?

The normal order is Subject–Verb (since there’s no object here). You could say Isınıyor ütü for emphasis or poetic style, but Subject–Verb (Ütü ısınıyor) is the neutral, most common order.

How would you say “the iron got hot” or “the iron will get hot”?

• Past tense: Ütü ısındı. = “The iron got hot.”
• Future tense: Ütü ısınacak. = “The iron will get hot.”
You replace the progressive -ıyor with the past marker -dı or the future marker -acak on the same root ısın-.