Question 1

What does namazından mean, and why does it end with -ından instead of just -dan?

Accepted Answer

namaz means “prayer.” In namazından, you have three parts:  
1. namaz (prayer)  
2. the 3rd-person singular possessive -ı (“his/its prayer”)  
3. the ablative case -ndan (“from/after”).

Because of vowel harmony you actually see -ı-n-dan, giving namazı + n + dan = namazından, literally “after the (morning) prayer.”

Question 2

Why do we say sabah namazından instead of just namazdan?

Accepted Answer

Sabah means “morning,” so sabah namazı is “morning prayer.” Combining it with the ablative gives sabah namazından, “after the morning prayer.” You need sabah to specify which prayer.

Question 3

What case is camide, and what role does it play here?

Accepted Answer

Camide uses the locative case (-de), indicating location. So camide means “in the mosque.” It tells us where the action happened.

Question 4

How do we choose the correct form of the locative suffix -de/-da/-te/-ta?

Accepted Answer

You look at the last vowel of the noun:  
- If it’s a front vowel (e, i, ö, ü), use -de/-te.  
- If it’s a back vowel (a, ı, o, u), use -da/-ta.  
Here camii ends in i (a front unrounded vowel), so we pick -de, yielding camide.

Question 5

What is the function of ibadet ederek, and how is this form created?

Accepted Answer

Ibadet etmek means “to perform worship.” Adding -erek (one of the gerund/participle endings) to the verb stem expresses “by doing” or “while doing.” So:  
ibadet et → ibadet et+erek = ibadet ederek, meaning “by/while worshipping” or “after worshipping” (linking it to the main verb).

Question 6

Could we use another gerund ending like -ıp/-ip or -ken instead of -erek?

Accepted Answer

Yes, depending on nuance:  
- ibadet edip dua ettik (“we worshipped and then we prayed”)  
- ibadet ederken dua ettik (“while worshipping, we prayed”)  
But -erek emphasizes the means or sequence: “we prayed by performing worship.”

Question 7

Why is dua ettik used instead of a single verb for “prayed”?

Accepted Answer

Turkish often uses noun + etmek to form verbs. Dua = “supplication/prayer,” and etmek = “to do.” So dua etmek is the standard compound verb for “to pray.” Ettik is its past‐tense form for “we did.”

Question 8

What person and tense is signaled by -tik in ettik?

Accepted Answer

The suffix -tik marks 1st person plural past tense. So ettik = “we did.”

Question 9

The sentence doesn’t explicitly say “we.” How is the subject understood?

Accepted Answer

In Turkish, subject pronouns are often dropped if they’re clear from the verb ending. Here -tik in ettik tells you the subject is we.

Question 10

Is the word order in Sabah namazından sonra camide ibadet ederek dua ettik typical for Turkish?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Turkish is generally S-O-V (subject-object-verb), but adverbials (time, place, manner) come before the verb. So you get:  
1. Time: Sabah namazından sonra (after morning prayer)  
2. Place: camide (in the mosque)  
3. Manner/means: ibadet ederek (by worshipping)  
4. Main verb: dua ettik (we prayed)

Sabah namazından sonra camide ibadet ederek dua ettik.

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