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Questions & Answers about Küçük bir vadi evin hemen yanında uzanıyor.
Why is there bir before vadi in küçük bir vadi?
In Turkish, bir functions as the indefinite article “a/an.” Placing bir before vadi makes it “a small valley.” Without bir, küçük vadi could be interpreted as “the small valley” in context, or simply “small valley” in a descriptive sense.
Can we leave out bir and just say küçük vadi?
Yes, you can say küçük vadi, but this tends to sound like you’re naming or pointing to a specific small valley (i.e. “the small valley”). If you want to emphasize “there is a small valley,” use bir to mark it as indefinite: küçük bir vadi.
What case is evin, and why is it used?
Evin is genitive (showing possession), from ev (“house”) + -in. It literally means “of the house.” In evin yanında, the genitive on ev pairs with the possessive or locative construction on yanı to express “at the side of the house.”
Why does yanı have two suffixes in yanında?
Yanı is “its side,” formed by yan (“side”) + third‐person possessive -ı. Then you add the locative suffix -nda to get yanı-nda = “at/on its side.” Combined with evin, you have evin yanıda, “at the side of the house.”
What role does hemen play in evin hemen yanında?
Hemen means “right away” or “immediately.” Here it modifies the location, so evin hemen yanında means “right next to the house.” It stresses that the valley is directly adjacent.
Why is the verb uzanıyor (present continuous) used instead of a simple present uzanır?
In Turkish, the -iyor suffix is often used for ongoing states or positions. Uzanıyor literally means “is stretching/lying,” so “the valley is lying next to the house.” Using uzanır would give a general or habitual meaning (“the valley generally stretches”), which is less natural for describing a fixed geographic feature.
What is the basic word order in this sentence?
Turkish follows SOV (Subject-Object-Verb) order. Here:
Subject = küçük bir vadi
Adverbial/Locative Phrase = evin hemen yanında
Verb = uzanıyor
Could I move evin hemen yanında to the beginning of the sentence?
Yes. You could say Evin hemen yanında küçük bir vadi uzanıyor, which still means “A small valley lies right next to the house.” Turkish is relatively flexible with adverbial and locative phrases.