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Questions & Answers about Buğday tarlası çok geniş.
Why aren't there articles like the or a in this sentence?
Turkish does not use articles. Definiteness and indefiniteness are usually understood from context or by adding words like bir (a/an) for indefiniteness. Here, Buğday tarlası çok geniş simply means “The wheat field is very wide” or “A wheat field is very wide,” depending on context.
What is the literal translation of Buğday tarlası?
Literally, Buğday tarlası means wheat field (or more precisely “field of wheat”). Buğday = wheat, tarla = field, and the suffix on tarlası marks the relationship.
Why is it tarlası instead of just tarla when we say buğday tarla?
In Turkish noun compounds, the first noun (modifier) remains unchanged and the second noun (head) takes a possessive suffix. So tarla becomes tarlası (“its field”), giving buğday tarlası = “field of wheat.”
What does the suffix -sı mean in tarlası?
The suffix -sı is the third-person singular possessive suffix. It literally means “its” or “of it.” So tarlası = “its field” or “field of (something),” and with buğday it becomes “field of wheat.”
Why isn't there a verb like is in the sentence?
In Turkish, the copula (“to be”) in the present simple tense is often omitted. You can add -dir or -tir (a formal copula suffix) in written or formal contexts, but in everyday speech it’s zero: “Buğday tarlası çok geniş” = “The wheat field (is) very wide.”
Why is çok placed before geniş, and what does it mean?
Çok is an adverb meaning very or much, and in Turkish, adverbs typically precede the adjective or verb they modify. Thus çok geniş = very wide.
Could I say Buğday tarlası çok geniştir instead?
Yes. Adding -tir to geniş (making geniştir) is a more formal way to include the copula. Buğday tarlası çok geniştir is grammatically correct, especially in writing, but in conversation you’d usually drop -tir.
How do you pronounce the letter ğ in buğday?
The letter ğ (yumuşak ge) is not pronounced as a separate consonant. Instead, it lengthens the preceding vowel. So buğday is pronounced roughly as [boo-day], with a long u sound and no hard “g.”
What is the word order in this sentence?
The order is Subject + Predicate (Adjective). Here Buğday tarlası is the subject (“wheat field”) and çok geniş is the predicate (“very wide”). Turkish typically follows Subject–Object–Verb, but in copular statements the adjective or noun simply follows the subject.
How is vowel harmony applied to the suffix in tarlası?
Turkish vowel harmony means suffix vowels match the last vowel of the root. Tarla ends in a (a low back vowel), so the possessive suffix uses ı (back unrounded). The s is a buffer consonant: tarla + s + ı = tarlası.