Sanat galerisinde her yapıtın kendine özgü bir hikayesi vardı.

Each work of art in the gallery had its own unique story.

Breakdown of Sanat galerisinde her yapıtın kendine özgü bir hikayesi vardı.

• bir: a
• var: to have
• her: each
• -de: in
• hikaye: the story
• kendi: its own
• sanat galerisi: the art gallery
• yapıt: the work of art
• özgü: unique

Questions & Answers about Sanat galerisinde her yapıtın kendine özgü bir hikayesi vardı.

What does sanat galerisinde mean, and how are the suffixes in galerisinde constructed?

sanat galerisinde translates to “in the art gallery.” Breakdown of galerisinde:

• galeri = “gallery”
• -si = third-person singular possessive (“its gallery,” used in noun compounds like sanat galerisi = “gallery of art”)
• buffer n = inserted before a vowel-initial suffix
• -de = locative case marker (“in/at”)
  So galeri
  • -si
    • -n
      • -de = galerisinde, giving “in the gallery,” and with sanat (“art”) we get “in the art gallery.”

What does yapıt mean, and what is its plural form?

yapıt means “work (of art)” or “artwork.” Its plural is yapıtlar (“artworks”).

Why is her used with the singular yapıt rather than yapıtlar?

In Turkish, her (“each”/“every”) always takes a singular noun. You say her yapıt (“each artwork”), never her yapıtlar.

Why does yapıt take the genitive suffix -ın in her yapıtın, and why does hikaye take the possessive suffix -si in hikayesi?

In Turkish possession structures:

• The possessor noun gets the genitive suffix -in/-ın/-ün/-n → yapıt
  • -ın = yapıtın (“of the artwork”).
• The possessed noun gets a possessive suffix (for third person -i/-si) → hikaye
  • -si = hikayesi (“its story”).
    Together her yapıtın hikayesi = “the story of each artwork.”

What does the phrase kendine özgü mean literally, and how is it formed?

kendine özgü means “unique to itself” (i.e. “unique” or “peculiar”). It’s built from:

• kendi = “self”
• -ne (dative) → kendine = “to itself”
• özgü = “characteristic,” “peculiar”
  Literally “characteristic to itself.”

Why is bir used before hikayesi, and can it be omitted?

bir before hikayesi (“a story”) introduces it as “one story” or “a certain story.” It’s not strictly necessary—her yapıtın kendine özgü hikayesi vardı (without bir) is also correct—but adding bir feels more natural when you want to emphasize the existence of one story per artwork.

Why is the verb vardı placed at the end of the sentence?

Turkish follows a Subject-Object-Verb (SOV) order. You first state the location (sanat galerisinde), then the subject phrase (her yapıtın … bir hikayesi), and finally the verb (vardı).

What is vardı, and how does it function in this sentence?

var means “to exist” or “there is/are.” The past-tense suffix -dı/-di/-du/-dü gives vardı, meaning “there was/there were.” Here it conveys that “there was a unique story for each artwork.”