Learn Hardcore Turkish: Radyo frekans ayarı doğru. - The radio frequency setting is correct.

In Turkish, when one noun modifies another directly (a noun-noun compound), the first noun stays in its base form without possessive or case endings. Here frekans (a loanword) simply describes the type of setting: “radio frequency adjustment.”

What does the -ı on ayarı mean?

The base noun is ayar (setting). The suffix -ı is the 3rd person singular possessive, so ayarı means “its setting.” Combined with radyo frekans, it literally reads “the setting of the radio frequency.”

Why is doğru not marked with any tense or person suffix?

Doğru is an adjective meaning “correct.” In Turkish, you can use adjectives as predicates without adding the copular -dır/-dir (especially in spoken or informal contexts). So … ayarı doğru simply means “…the setting is correct.”

Could I say radyo frekansı ayarı doğru instead? What’s the difference?

Yes, you can. Radyo frekansı uses the genitive-possessive chain (“of the radio frequency”), making the structure a little more explicit: “the setting of the radio’s frequency is correct.” But radyo frekans ayarı (no genitive) is equally natural and more concise for “radio frequency adjustment.”

Why is doğru placed after ayarı instead of before it?

Word order in Turkish is typically Subject-Object-Verb (SOV), but when an adjective functions as a predicate it comes after the noun it describes and no verb is needed. Placing doğru before would turn it into an attributive adjective (“correct radio frequency adjustment”) rather than saying “the adjustment is correct.”

What grammatical role does radyo frekans ayarı play in the sentence?

Radyo frekans ayarı is the subject (or topic) of the sentence, in the nominative case. The adjective doğru predicates about that subject: “[The] radio frequency adjustment is correct.”

Why doesn’t frekans follow Turkish vowel harmony?

Frekans is a borrowing from another language (French/German), and many loanwords keep their original vowel patterns. They don’t always fit neatly into Turkish vowel harmony, so they stay as-is.

How would I turn this statement into a command, like “Set the radio frequency correctly”?

You’d use the verb ayarlamak (to adjust) in the imperative plus the adverb doğru:
Radyo frekansını doğru ayarla.
Here frekansını takes the accusative -ı plus the 2nd person singular possessive -n, and ayarla is “adjust (you).”