Fırça darbeleriyle objelere canlı bir görünüm verdi.

With brush strokes, he gave the objects a vivid appearance.

Breakdown of Fırça darbeleriyle objelere canlı bir görünüm verdi.

• bir: a
• görünüm: the appearance
• vermek: to give
• -e: to
• obje: the object
• fırça darbeleriyle: with brush strokes
• canlı: vivid

Questions & Answers about Fırça darbeleriyle objelere canlı bir görünüm verdi.

What does the suffix -(y)le indicate in darbeleriyle, and why is there a y before le?

The suffix -le (or -ile) marks the instrumental case in Turkish, meaning “with.” In darbeleriyle:
• darbe = stroke
• -ler = plural → darbeler = strokes
• -i = 3rd person singular possessive → darbeleri = its strokes (used generically)
• -le = with → darbeleri+le = with strokes
Because darbeleri ends in a vowel (i), a linking y is inserted: darbeleri + y + le → darbeleriyle.

Why is objelere in the dative case, and what does that mean in English?

objelere = obje (object) + -ler (plural) + -e (dative). The dative case marks the indirect object, answering “to (what/whom).”
So objelere = “to the objects.”
In English we say “give something to someone,” so here it’s “give a vivid appearance to the objects.”

Why doesn’t canlı bir görünüm take the accusative suffix (-ü) like other direct objects?

In Turkish, only definite direct objects take the accusative suffix (-(y)ı/-(y)i/-(y)u/-(y)ü). Here canlı bir görünüm is indefinite (“a vivid appearance”), so it remains in its neutral form without -ü. If you wanted to say “gave the vivid appearance,” you would use canlı bir görünümü (though that shifts the nuance).

What is the role of bir in canlı bir görünüm?

bir serves as the indefinite article “a/an” (and also means “one”). It makes the noun görünüm (“appearance”) indefinite. Without bir, canlı görünüm would feel more like a general concept (“vivid appearance” in abstract), whereas canlı bir görünüm = “a vivid appearance.”

Who is the subject of the sentence, and why is it omitted?

The verb verdi is in the 3rd person singular past tense (narrative past). Turkish often drops the subject when it’s clear from the verb ending. So the implied subject is he/she/it (e.g. “it” – the painting technique or the artist). In English you’d supply it: “It gave the objects a vivid appearance.”

What is the literal word-for-word translation of this sentence?

Fırça (brush)
darbeleriyle (with strokes)
objelere (to the objects)
canlı (vivid)
bir (a)
görünüm (appearance)
verdi (gave)
Natural English: “It gave the objects a vivid appearance with brush strokes.”

Can this sentence be turned into the passive voice in Turkish?

Yes. Active:
Fırça darbeleriyle objelere canlı bir görünüm verdi.
Passive:
Objelere fırça darbeleriyle canlı bir görünüm verildi.
(“A vivid appearance was given to the objects with brush strokes.”)

Is Turkish word order flexible here? Could I move the parts around?

Yes—Turkish relies on case endings rather than strict order. The neutral pattern is Subject–Object–Verb. You could say:
Objelere canlı bir görünüm fırça darbeleriyle verdi.
or
Canlı bir görünüm objelere fırça darbeleriyle verdi.
All are grammatically correct, but moving a phrase changes the emphasis. The original front-loads fırça darbeleriyle to highlight the technique.

Could I simplify fırça darbeleriyle to fırçayla? What’s the difference?

Yes: fırçayla = “with a brush.” It emphasizes the tool. fırça darbeleriyle focuses on the individual brush strokes as the method or technique. The nuance is subtle: one speaks of using the brush itself, the other highlights the effect of each stroke.