Learn Hardcore Turkish: Sanatçı beyaz tuvale yağlı boya sürdü. - The artist applied oil paint to the white canvas.

The verb sürmek (“to apply/spread”) requires the surface you’re painting to as a dative object. You form the dative by adding -e (with vowel harmony) to tuval, giving tuvale.

Why doesn’t yağlı boya have an accusative suffix like -ı or -i?

In Turkish, only definite direct objects take the accusative suffix (-ı/-i/-u/-ü). Here yağlı boya means “some oil paint” (indefinite), so it stays unmarked. If you meant a specific paint, you would say yağlı boyayı.

What does sürmek mean in this context, and can it have other meanings?

Here sürmek means “to spread” or “to apply” (paint, butter, etc.) onto a surface. The same verb also means “to drive” (a car) or “to last/continue” (time), but context signals which sense applies.

How is the compound yağlı boya constructed and what does it mean?

It’s formed from yağlı (“oily” or “with oil”) + boya (“paint”). Together, yağlı boya simply means oil paint.

Why is beyaz placed before tuvale?

In Turkish, adjectives always precede the noun they modify. First you get beyaz tuval (“white canvas”), then you add the case ending: beyaz tuvale (“to the white canvas”).

What is the word order in this sentence?

Turkish generally follows Subject–Object–Verb. Here:
• Subject: Sanatçı
• Indirect Object (dative): beyaz tuvale
• Direct Object: yağlı boya
• Verb: sürdü

Can you swap the objects for emphasis, and how would you mark them?

Yes. To emphasize the paint, make it definite with an accusative suffix and swap:
Sanatçı yağlı boyayı beyaz tuvale sürdü.
(“The artist applied the oil paint to the white canvas,” highlighting which paint.)