Salonun duvarlarını beyaza boyadık.

We painted the walls of the living room white.

Breakdown of Salonun duvarlarını beyaza boyadık.

• duvar: the wall
• -a: to
• -un: of
• salon: the living room
• beyaz: white
• boyamak: to paint

Questions & Answers about Salonun duvarlarını beyaza boyadık.

Why does salonun end with -un?

Turkish uses the genitive case to show possession. Here, salon (“living room”) takes -un (harmonized from -ın) to become salonun, meaning “of the living room” or “the living room’s.”

Why does duvarlarını have -larını at the end?

Three things are happening on duvar (“wall”):

1. -lar marks the plural → duvarlar (“walls”)
2. -ı marks 3rd-person singular possessive → duvarları (“its walls”)
3. Another -ı marks the definite direct object (accusative) Because the two -ı suffixes merge under vowel harmony, you get duvarlarını, “the (specific) walls of the living room.”

There’s no “the” or “a” in the sentence. How do we know it’s definite?

Turkish has no articles. Definiteness is shown by context and by case endings. The accusative suffix (-ı) on duvarlarını signals that we’re talking about specific walls, not just any walls.

Why is beyaz in the dative case (beyaza)?

With verbs like boyamak (“to paint”), the color you paint something into takes the dative ending -a/-e. So beyaza literally means “into white” or “to white.”

What does the -dık in boyadık indicate?

It’s a combination of: • -dı/-di: the simple past tense marker (vowel‐harmonized to -dı)
• -k: the 1st-person plural suffix (“we”)
Put together: boya + dı + k → boyadık, “we painted.”

Can you say Salonu beyaza boyadık instead?

Yes. If it’s clear you mean the living-room walls, you can omit duvarlarını. Salonu beyaza boyadık means “We painted the living room white.”

Is the word order fixed? Could you start with beyaza?

Turkish follows Subject-Object-Verb order but allows some flexibility. You could say Beyaza salonun duvarlarını boyadık or Salonun duvarlarını beyaza boyadık. The verb stays at the end; moving elements simply shifts emphasis.

What’s the difference between salonun duvarları and salondaki duvarlar?

• salonun duvarları uses the genitive → “the living room’s walls.”
• salondaki duvarlar uses the locative plus -ki → “the walls that are in the living room.”

Why use salon instead of oda?

Salon is a loanword meaning “living room” or “formal lounge,” whereas oda is a general word for “room.” If you simply say oda, listeners think of any room, not specifically the living room.

Could you drop salonun if context is clear?

Yes. In a conversation where everyone knows which room you mean, you can say Duvarları beyaza boyadık (“We painted the walls white”). Without context, however, it’s ambiguous which walls you refer to.