Uzay ajansı yeni cihaz tasarlıyor.

The space agency is designing a new device.

Breakdown of Uzay ajansı yeni cihaz tasarlıyor.

• yeni: new
• cihaz: the device
• tasarlamak: to design
• uzay ajansı: the space agency

Questions & Answers about Uzay ajansı yeni cihaz tasarlıyor.

Why are there no articles like the or a in “Uzay ajansı yeni cihaz tasarlıyor”?

Turkish doesn’t have definite or indefinite articles.

• English uses a/an for indefinite and the for definite.
• Turkish shows indefiniteness often by omitting any marker and definiteness by adding the accusative suffix (-ı/-i/-u/-ü) to the object.
• If you want to be more explicit with “a,” you can insert bir (e.g. uzay ajansı yeni bir cihaz tasarlıyor), but it’s optional.

What is the function of the -ı on ajansı? It looks like an object-marker, but here ajansı is the subject.

This -ı is not the accusative; it’s the 3 sg. possessive suffix in a compound noun.
In Turkish you often form compounds with a “genitive + possessive” structure:
• Noun 1 (genitive) + Noun 2 (possessive‐3sg)
• e.g. eğitim bakanlığı (“Ministry of Education”) – literally “education’s ministry.”
Here, uzay ajansı = “agency of space” = uzayın ajansı, but in everyday compounds the genitive -ın on uzay is dropped and only the possessive -ı remains on ajans.

Why doesn’t yeni cihaz carry an accusative suffix (-ı) if it’s the object of “tasarlıyor”?

Because the object is indefinite and non-specific.

• Definite objects take the accusative (yeni cihazı).
• Indefinite/non-specific objects remain un-marked (yeni cihaz).

What tense and person is tasarlıyor, and how is it built?

tasarlıyor is present continuous (progressive), 3rd person singular.

1. Verb root: tasarla- (to design)
2. Continuous suffix: -ıyor (after a, ı vowels)
3. Person suffix: zero (∅) for 3 sg.
   Put together: tasarla- + ıyor + ∅ = tasarlıyor (“he/she/it is designing”).

Why is the verb at the very end? Isn’t English more flexible with word order?

Turkish is a Subject-Object-Verb (SOV) language. Basic order:

1. Subject (Uzay ajansı)
2. Object (yeni cihaz)
3. Verb (tasarlıyor)
   In English you’d say SVO (“the space agency is designing…”), but in Turkish the verb almost always comes last.

Could I insert bir before yeni cihaz? What changes?

Yes. bir = “a/an.”

• Uzay ajansı yeni bir cihaz tasarlıyor.
  This makes it explicitly “a new device,” but since there’s already an adjective (yeni), bir is optional.

How do I turn this into a question?

Add the question particle mi (with vowel harmony) after the word you’re asking about—here the object or simply at the end:
• Uzay ajansı yeni cihaz mı tasarlıyor? (“Is the space agency designing a new device?”)

How would I make everything plural?

Pluralize both the agency and the device with -ler/-lar:
• Uzay ajansları yeni cihazlar tasarlıyor.
(“Space agencies are designing new devices.”)