Breakdown of Traktör saman balyası taşıyor.
taşımak
to carry
traktör
the tractor
saman balyası
the hay bale
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Questions & Answers about Traktör saman balyası taşıyor.
Why does the verb taşıyor come at the end of the sentence instead of right after Traktör, like in English?
Turkish normally follows a Subject–Object–Verb (SOV) order rather than English’s Subject–Verb–Object (SVO). So Traktör (subject) saman balyası (object/compound noun) and then taşıyor (is carrying) finishes the sentence.
What does the suffix -yor in taşıyor indicate?
The -yor suffix is the Present Continuous (progressive) tense marker. taşıyor means “is carrying.” To make it past tense you’d use -dı (taşıdı), for future -acak (taşıyacak), and so on.
Why doesn’t Traktör have an article? How would I express “a tractor” or “the tractor”?
Turkish has no definite or indefinite articles like a or the. You can leave a noun bare for either meaning. If you need “one” or “a,” you add bir: Bir traktör saman balyası taşıyor (“A tractor is carrying a hay bale”). To stress “the tractor,” you rely on context or word order—there’s no separate word for the.
Why does balyası have the suffix -sı even though there’s no real possessor (“its bale”)?
In Turkish noun-noun compounds, the second noun (the head) takes a 3rd-person possessive suffix. So saman balyası literally is “hay’s bale,” but idiomatically it just means “hay bale.” The first noun acts like the possessor, but we don’t think of an actual owner—this is just how compounds are formed.
How can I tell that balyası isn’t the direct-object marker -ı but actually a possessive suffix?
They look the same in writing, but function differently. In a compound saman balyası, the -sı is the 3rd-person possessive on balya (“its bale”). A true accusative (direct-object) marker would attach after any possessive and, if needed, a buffer y, as in saman balyasını (“the hay bale” as a definite object). Here there’s no accusative—just the compound.
How would I make saman balyası plural to say “hay bales”?
You pluralize the head noun before the possessive suffix:
• saman balyaları = “hay bales” (compound, head is plural)
If you then make that definite as an object, you’d say saman balyalarını.
How do I turn “Traktör saman balyası taşıyor” into a yes/no question?
You add the question particle mı/mu/mü/mi (choosing the form by vowel harmony) to the word you’re questioning and typically place it right before the verb or on the verb itself:
• Asking “Is the tractor carrying a hay bale?” about the action:
Traktör saman balyası taşıyor mu?
• Asking “Is it a hay bale that the tractor is carrying?” about the object:
Traktör saman balyası mı taşıyor?