Questions & Answers about Ben evin kapısını onarıyorum.
Why is ben optional in this sentence?
Turkish is a pro-drop language, meaning subject pronouns (ben, sen, o, etc.) can be omitted because the verb ending already indicates the person. In onarıyorum, the -um ending tells you it’s first-person singular (“I am repairing”). You include ben only if you want to emphasize “I” or contrast with someone else.
Why is it evin instead of ev?
To say “of the house,” the possessor noun takes the genitive case suffix -in (vowel-harmonized as -in/-ın/-un/-ün). Thus:
• ev (house) + -in ⇒ evin (“of the house”).
Why does kapı become kapısını? There seem to be two suffixes.
Indeed, kapısını carries:
1) A third-person singular possessive suffix -sı, yielding kapısı (“its door”).
2) An accusative suffix -ı for definite objects. Because kapısı ends in a vowel, a buffer n is inserted, giving -nı.
Breakdown:
kapı + -sı = kapısı (“its door”)
kapısı + -nı = kapısını (“its door,” as a specific direct object)
What role does the accusative suffix -ı play on kapısını?
In Turkish, definite or specific direct objects take the accusative suffix. Here you’re repairing a particular door (“the house’s door”), so you need to mark it as a known, definite object. Without it, it would read as “I repair house door” in a general, non-specific sense.