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İkinci tamirci, hasarlı kaportayı kısa sürede onardı.

İkinci tamirci, hasarlı kaportayı kısa sürede onardı.
The second mechanic repaired the damaged body panel in a short time.
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Questions & Answers about İkinci tamirci, hasarlı kaportayı kısa sürede onardı.

What is the meaning of ikinci, and how are ordinal numbers generally formed in Turkish?

İkinci means “second.” In Turkish, most ordinals are built from cardinals by adding the suffix -inci/-ıncı/-üncü/-uncu, which follows vowel harmony rules. Examples:

  • bir → birinci (first)
  • iki → ikinci (second)
  • üç → üçüncü (third)
  • dört → dördüncü (fourth)
    Note that some are irregular in spelling or pronunciation (e.g. “birinci” is regular, but “beşinci” vs. “altıncı”).
Why is there a comma after tamirci? Is it required?

The comma after “İkinci tamirci” is not grammatically mandatory; it’s a stylistic pause that:

  • Emphasizes “the second mechanic.”
  • Helps the reader parse the subject before the rest of the sentence, especially in spoken or more formal writing.
    In everyday Turkish you could write “İkinci tamirci hasarlı kaportayı kısa sürede onardı.” without changing the meaning.
What case is kaportayı in, why does it have the suffix -yı, and when do we use that?

“Kaportayı” is in the accusative case (direct‐object). The suffix -yı/-yi/-yu/-yü marks a definite/specific object.

  • If you repair a car body in general (indefinite), you’d say “kaporta onardım.”
  • To say “I repaired the car body” (definite), you use “kaportayı onardım.”
How is hasarlı formed, and what does the suffix -lı indicate?

hasarlı = hasar (damage) + -lı (possessive/adjective suffix) = “with damage” → “damaged.”
The suffix -lı/-li/-lu/-lü attaches to nouns and means “having” or “characterized by.”
Because of vowel harmony (last vowel of hasar is a, a back unrounded vowel), -lı remains -lı, giving hasarlı.

What does kısa sürede mean, why is sürede in the locative case, and are there alternate expressions?

kısa sürede literally means “in a short time.”

  • süre = “time/period”
  • -de = locative suffix = “in/at”
    As a time expression, locative -de tells us when something happens.
    Alternatives:
  • kısa süre içinde (literally “within a short time”)
  • kısa zamanda (using zaman = “time” + locative)
How is the simple past tense formed in onardı, and why isn’t there a subject pronoun?

onardı = onar- (repair) + -dı (simple past, third-person singular, following vowel harmony).
Turkish verbs include person/number in their endings, so “o onardı” (“he/she/it repaired”) drops o (he/she/it) in normal use. The verb alone is enough to show “he repaired.”

What is the agentive suffix -ci/çı/çu/cü in tamirci, and how does vowel harmony determine its form?

The suffix -ci/-cı/-cü/-cu turns a noun or verb into “one who does X” (an agent/profession).

  • tamir = “repair”
    • -ci → tamirci = “repairer” → “mechanic.”
      Vowel harmony: the last vowel of tamir is i (front, unrounded), so we choose -ci, not -cı, -cu, or -cü.
How do vowel harmony rules play out in words like hasarlı, kısa, sürede, and onardı?

Turkish has two main harmony processes for suffix vowels:
1) Two-way (front vs. back): determines a/ı vs. e/i
2) Four-way (also rounded vs. unrounded): determines a/ı, e/i, o/u, ö/ü
Examples in our sentence:

  • hasar- + ‑lı → hasarlı (back unrounded ı)
  • kıs-a (root kısa already follows harmony internally)
  • süre- + ‑de → sürede (front rounded ü → locative -de, not -da)
  • onar- + ‑dı → onardı (back unrounded a → past -dı)
    Each suffix vowel matches the last vowel of its base word according to harmony rules.