Breakdown of Eleştirmenler, yeni roman hakkında olumlu yorum yazdılar.
yazmak
to write
yeni
new
roman
the novel
hakkında
about
olumlu
positive
eleştirmen
the critic
yorum
the review
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Questions & Answers about Eleştirmenler, yeni roman hakkında olumlu yorum yazdılar.
What does the plural suffix -ler on eleştirmenler signify?
It marks the noun as plural (“critics”). Turkish uses -lar/-ler depending on vowel harmony to pluralize nouns.
Why does yazdılar come at the end of the sentence?
Turkish typically follows Subject–Object–Verb (SOV) word order. Here:
- Subject: Eleştirmenler
- Object phrase: yeni roman hakkında olumlu yorum
- Verb: yazdılar
How is the verb yazdılar formed? What do its parts mean?
Breakdown:
- yaz = root meaning “write”
- -dı = simple past tense suffix
- -lar = 3rd person plural suffix
So yaz + dı → yazdı, then yazdı + lar → yazdılar (“they wrote”).
What tense and person does yazdılar express?
It’s the simple past (definite past) tense in 3rd person plural, meaning “they wrote.”
Why doesn’t yeni roman take an accusative ending like -ı?
Because yeni roman is not the direct object of yazmak here; it’s governed by the postposition hakkında (“about”). Objects of postpositions remain in the unmarked (nominative) form.
How does the postposition hakkında work, and what does it mean?
hakkında means “about” or “concerning.” It follows a noun phrase (in its bare form) to indicate the topic. You never add an extra case ending to the noun before hakkında.
Why is yorum singular in olumlu yorum even though multiple critics wrote comments?
In Turkish, when you speak of comments in general or count them loosely, you often use the singular noun. If you want to stress multiple individual comments, you can pluralize it: olumlu yorumlar yazdılar (“they wrote positive comments/reviews”), but the singular form is idiomatic here.
Is the comma after Eleştirmenler required?
No. The comma simply indicates a slight pause or emphasis when the subject is fronted. It’s optional and can be omitted without changing the meaning.
Does the adjective olumlu ever change to match yorum in number or case?
No. Turkish adjectives are invariable: they do not take plural markers or case endings. Any number or case marking happens on the noun itself.