Oyuncakları tek tek kutudan çıkarıyorum.

I am taking the toys out of the box one by one.

Breakdown of Oyuncakları tek tek kutudan çıkarıyorum.

• oyuncak: the toy
• -dan: from
• kutu: the box
• tek tek: one by one
• çıkarmak: to take out

Questions & Answers about Oyuncakları tek tek kutudan çıkarıyorum.

Why does oyuncakları have both -lar and -ı suffixes?

oyuncak is “toy.”

• -lar makes it plural → oyuncaklar = “toys.”
• -ı is the accusative (definite direct object) suffix, chosen by vowel harmony → oyuncakları = “(the) toys” you’re specifically taking out.

What does tek tek mean and why is tek repeated?

tek tek is a fixed reduplication meaning “one by one.”

• The repetition creates an adverbial sense of distribution.
• You cannot replace it with a single tek to get the same meaning.

Why is kutudan used instead of kutuda or kutuya?

Turkish uses case endings for direction and location:

• kutudan = kutu
  • ablative -dan → “from the box” (movement away).
• kutuda = locative -da → “in/at the box.”
• kutuya = dative -ya → “to the box.”

How is the verb çıkarıyorum formed?

Start with the infinitive çıkarmak (“to take out”).

1. Remove -mak → çıkar-
2. Add progressive suffix -ıyor (vowel harmony) → çıkarıyor- (“is taking out”)
3. Add 1st person singular -um → çıkarıyorum = “I am taking out.”
   Note: Some say çıkartıyorum (extra t) in casual speech, but çıkarıyorum is standard.

What’s the difference between çıkarmak and çıkmak?

• çıkmak (intransitive): “to go/come out,” no direct object.
• çıkarmak (transitive): “to take something out,” requires a direct object (what you’re removing).

Could I move tek tek to a different position in the sentence, and does it change the meaning?

Yes. Turkish word order is fairly flexible. All of these work with only minor shifts in emphasis:

• Oyuncakları kutudan tek tek çıkarıyorum.
• Kutudan oyuncakları tek tek çıkarıyorum.
• Tek tek oyuncakları kutudan çıkarıyorum.
  The core meaning (“I’m taking the toys out one by one from the box”) stays the same.

Why is there no subject pronoun ben in the sentence?

Turkish verbs carry person/number information. çıkarıyorum already signals “I.”
You can add Ben for emphasis (“I, myself, am…”), but it’s usually dropped.

Can I use synonyms like teker teker or birer birer instead of tek tek?

Yes.

• teker teker is very common and virtually interchangeable with tek tek.
• birer birer (“one each/one at a time”) is also correct but slightly more formal or written.

Why aren’t there articles like the or a/an in the Turkish sentence?

Turkish has no separate articles.

• Definite objects get the accusative suffix (here -ı on oyuncakları).
• Indefiniteness can be shown with bir (“a/one”), but is often omitted when context is clear.