Ses sistemi iyi çalışıyor.

The sound system works well.

Breakdown of Ses sistemi iyi çalışıyor.

• çalışmak: to work
• iyi: well
• ses sistemi: the sound system

Questions & Answers about Ses sistemi iyi çalışıyor.

Why don’t we use any suffix between ses and sistemi? Is this a compound noun?

Yes. In Turkish, many noun–noun compounds are unmarked: the first noun simply modifies the second. We don’t need genitive or possessive endings. So ses sistemi literally means “sound system.”

What case is ses sistemi in? Why doesn’t it have a case ending?

It’s the subject of the sentence, so it appears in the nominative case, which is unmarked in Turkish. Unless you want to emphasize or specify direction, subjects remain without extra endings.

Can iyi modify a verb? I thought iyi was an adjective.

While iyi primarily means “good” as an adjective, it also functions as an adverb meaning “well.” When placed before a verb, it describes the manner of the action: iyi çalışıyor = “is working well.”

Why is the word order ses sistemi iyi çalışıyor instead of ses sistemi çalışıyor iyi?

In Turkish, adverbs and adverbial modifiers typically precede the verb they modify. So iyi (“well”) must come right before çalışıyor (“is working”), not after.

Why is the verb çalışıyor and not çalışır or çalıştı?