Sonraki otobüs yakında gelecek.

The next bus will arrive soon.

Breakdown of Sonraki otobüs yakında gelecek.

• otobüs: the bus
• gelmek: to come
• yakında: soon
• sonraki: next

Questions & Answers about Sonraki otobüs yakında gelecek.

How is sonraki formed, and what does the suffix -ki do?

sonraki breaks down into two parts:
• sonra – a noun meaning after or later
• -ki – a relational adjective suffix meaning the one related to…
When you combine them, sonraki literally means the one that comes after, i.e. next.

Why isn’t there a word for the in Sonraki otobüs yakında gelecek?

Turkish has no definite or indefinite articles like a or the. Noun phrases can be definite simply by context or by using demonstratives or possessive constructions. Here, sonraki otobüs is understood as the next bus without a separate article.

What part of speech is yakında, and how is it formed?

yakında is an adverb meaning soon or shortly. It comes from the adjective yakın (near) plus the locative case suffix -da. In Turkish, putting an adjective in the locative often creates a time‐related adverb.

What tense and person is gelecek, and why don’t we see a separate subject pronoun?

gelecek is the future tense, third‐person singular form of gel- (to come). It’s formed as follows:
• gel- (root)
• -ecek (future suffix)
• zero ending for 3rd sg. (no extra suffix)
Turkish drops subject pronouns when the person is clear from the verb ending—so we don’t need o (he/she/it).

The usual word order in Turkish is S-O-V. Why is yakında placed before the verb here?

Adverbs in Turkish are quite flexible. While S-O-V is the default, S-Adv-V (subject, adverb, verb) is perfectly natural. Putting yakında right before gelecek emphasizes soon coming right up.

How would you turn this into a question meaning “When will the next bus come?”

Insert the question phrase ne zaman (when) before the verb:
Sonraki otobüs ne zaman gelecek?
That literally reads Next bus when will come?

Can you add bir to say bir sonraki otobüs, and what difference would it make?

You can say bir sonraki otobüs, but it’s usually redundant: sonraki already implies a single “next one.” Adding bir (one/a) sounds like “one next bus” and is rarely needed.

How do you pronounce otobüs, especially the ü?

otobüs = [o-to-bys]
• o as in thought
• to as in tote
• büs with ü like the German ü (front, rounded): lips forward, tongue high and front, similar to the u in French lune.