Su kupaya aktarılmalı.

the water

Breakdown of Su kupaya aktarılmalı.

• -ya: to
• aktarılmak: to be transferred
• kupa: the cup

Questions & Answers about Su kupaya aktarılmalı.

How is the verb aktarılmalı formed from aktarmak?

aktarılmalı comes from the verb root aktar- (“to transfer”). First you add the passive suffix -ıl (vowel-harmonized to -ıl):
 aktar- + -ıl → aktarıl- (“be transferred”)
Then you add the necessity suffix -malı to express obligation:
 aktarıl- + -malı → aktarılmalı (“must be transferred”).

What is the difference between aktarmalı and aktarılmalı?

• aktarmalı = root aktar- + necessity -malı → active meaning “he/she/one must transfer (it)”.
• aktarılmalı = root aktar- + passive -ıl + necessity -malı → passive meaning “it must be transferred” (without specifying who does it).

Why isn’t su marked with the accusative -yu (as in suyu)?

In Turkish, when you turn an active sentence into passive, the original object becomes the new subject and takes the nominative (unmarked) form. That’s why we have su (not suyu) before the passive verb.

What case is kupaya, and how is it formed?