Learn Hardcore Turkish: Butikte satılan minyatür gitar ve küçük saz modelleri dekoratif objeler olarak vitrine yerleştirildi. - The miniature guitar and small lute models sold in the boutique were placed in the display window as decorative objects.

In the sentence Butikte satılan minyatür gitar ve küçük saz modelleri dekoratif objeler olarak vitrine yerleştirildi, why is butikte satılan placed before the nouns, and what function does it serve?

In Turkish, any adjective or participial phrase that modifies a noun comes before it. butikte satılan is a passive participle phrase (lit. “sold in the shop”) modifying the head noun minyatür gitar ve küçük saz modelleri, so it tells us “the models that are sold in the shop.”

What is the structure and meaning of satılan here?

satılan is formed from the verb satmak (“to sell”) by adding the passive suffix -ıl (sat-ıl) and then the participle suffix -an → satıl-an. It literally means “(that) are sold,” so as a modifier it describes these models as “sold in the shop.”

Why is there only one modelleri at the end of minyatür gitar ve küçük saz modelleri, instead of repeating modelleri after both gitar and saz?

Turkish allows coordinate structures to share a final head noun if it applies to both elements. Here modelleri (“models”) is the shared head for minyatür gitar (“miniature guitar”) and küçük saz (“small saz”), so you get “miniature guitar models and small saz models” without duplicating modelleri twice.

How should we understand dekoratif objeler olarak, and why is objeler plural and unmarked by a case ending?

dekoratif objeler stays in the nominative plural because it’s the complement of olarak (“as”). It’s plural since multiple models serve as decorative objects. No extra case ending is needed—the noun remains in nominative when used with olarak.

What role does olarak play in the sentence?

olarak functions like the English preposition “as,” indicating role or function. It attaches to a noun phrase in nominative to show “in the capacity of” or “as,” here “as decorative objects.”

Why is vitrine in the dative case (ending -e)?

In Turkish, the verb yerleştirmek (“to place”) takes its target or goal in the dative case to show “into/onto” something. So vitrine (“to the display case”) marks the direction/location where the models are placed.

Why is the final verb yerleştirildi passive, and how is it formed?

yerleştirildi is the passive past of yerleştirmek. Breakdown:
• root yerleş- (“to settle/place oneself”)
• causative -tir → yerleştir- (“to place [something]”)
• passive -il → yerleştir-il-
• past tense -di → yerleştirildi (“was placed”)

Why doesn’t the verb yerleştirildi show plural agreement, even though the subject is plural?

Turkish verbs only mark person (1st, 2nd, 3rd), not number. The third-person form is the same for singular and plural, so yerleştirildi can mean “he/she/it was placed” or “they were placed.”

Could we rewrite this sentence in an active voice, and how would that change its structure?

Yes. An active version would need an explicit or implied subject and the active verb form. For example:
Butikte satılan minyatür gitar ve küçük saz modellerini dekoratif objeler olarak vitrine yerleştirdiler.
Here -ni on modelleri marks the object, and yerleştirdiler (“they placed”) makes it clear someone did the action.

Why is there no subject pronoun like onlar (“they”) in the passive sentence?

In Turkish, subjects (especially third person) are often dropped when clear from verb conjugation. In passive voice, the agent is usually unimportant or unknown, so no pronoun is used. The verb form yerleştirildi already conveys “was/were placed.”