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Questions & Answers about Kurabiyeleri fırından çıktıktan sonra soğumadan servis etmeliyiz.
How do we break down kurabiyeleri into its morphemes?
kurabiyeleri consists of:
- kurabiye = cookie
- -ler = plural suffix
- -i = definite direct object (accusative) suffix
Combined, kurabiyeleri means “the cookies” as a direct object.
Why is fırından used? What does the suffix -dan signify here?
fırın means oven. The suffix -dan is the ablative case, meaning “from.” Since the cookies come out from the oven, we say fırından = “from the oven.”
How is çıktıktan sonra formed and what function does it serve?
Take the past stem of çıkmak (to come out): çıktı, then add the temporal connector -ktan sonra (after doing something). So fırından çıktıktan sonra means “after (they) come out of the oven.”
What does soğumadan mean, and how is it built?
soğumadan comes from:
- soğumak = to cool / become cool
- -madan = “before doing” or “without doing”
Thus soğumadan = “before (they) cool” or “without letting them cool.”
Why are both fırından çıktıktan sonra and soğumadan used? Aren’t they redundant?
They mark two consecutive time points:
1) remove the cookies from the oven (fırından çıktıktan sonra)
2) serve them immediately, before they cool (soğumadan)
Together they emphasize serving the cookies while still warm.
What does servis etmeliyiz mean, and how is it formed?
- servis etmek = to serve (food/drinks)
- -meli = necessity suffix (“must/should”)
- -yiz = first-person-plural ending (“we”)
So et-meli-yiz = “we must serve.”
Why isn’t there an explicit subject like biz in the sentence?
Turkish is pro-drop: the verb ending -yiz already shows that the subject is “we,” so biz is unnecessary and usually omitted.
Could we use a more native verb instead of servis etmek?
Yes. You could say sunmak (“to present/serve” food or drink). In that case you’d say sunmalıyız = “we must serve.”
Is there another way to express “as soon as the cookies come out of the oven”?
Yes. You can use the idiom çıkar çıkmaz (“as soon as it comes out”):
Kurabiyeleri fırından çıkar çıkmaz servis etmeliyiz.