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Questions & Answers about Saksı verandada duruyor.
What does Saksı mean?
Saksı means flower pot or plant pot.
What case is verandada in, and what does it indicate?
Verandada is in the locative case, marked by the suffix -da, indicating location on the veranda.
Why is the suffix -da and not -de, -ta, or -te?
Turkish locative suffixes follow vowel harmony and consonant assimilation. The last vowel in veranda is a (a back vowel), so we use -da (back-vowel variant) rather than -de. There’s no consonant change because veranda ends in a vowel.
What does duruyor mean, and what’s its root?
Duruyor comes from the verb durmak (to stand, to stop, to be located). The root is dur-, and the present continuous suffix is -uyor, so duruyor literally means is standing or is located.
In English we’d say the pot is on the veranda. Why is duruyor used instead of a simple to be verb?
Turkish often uses durmak in the present continuous to describe static positions or states of objects. Saying Saksı verandada duruyor emphasizes that the pot is standing or being located upright on the veranda. You could also say verandada var or verandada bulunuyor, but duruyor is common for upright objects.
Why is there no article before Saksı? When do we express a pot vs. the pot in Turkish?
Turkish has no definite or indefinite articles like a or the. Saksı can mean a pot or the pot depending on context. If you need to clarify, you can say bir saksı (a pot) or use a demonstrative: o saksı (that pot).
What is the basic word order in Turkish, and how does this sentence reflect it?
Turkish follows Subject–Object–Verb order (SOV). In Saksı verandada duruyor, we have Subject (Saksı) + adverbial phrase (verandada) + Verb (duruyor). Adverbials can move, but the verb stays at the end.
Could we omit Saksı if it’s clear from context?
Yes. Turkish often drops the subject when it’s understood. If you’re already talking about a pot, you can just say Verandada duruyor and the listener will know what you mean.
If the pot were lying on its side, would we still use duruyor or something else?
You’d likely use yatıyor (from yatmak, to lie down) for a horizontally placed object. So Saksı verandada yatıyor would imply the pot is tipped over.