Kız kardeşimin romanı rafta duruyor.

the novel

Breakdown of Kız kardeşimin romanı rafta duruyor.

• durmak: to stand
• rafta: on the shelf
• kız kardeşimin: my sister’s

Questions & Answers about Kız kardeşimin romanı rafta duruyor.

How do we form kız kardeşimin? What do the suffixes -im and -in indicate?

-im is the 1st-person singular possessive suffix (“my”), so kız kardeş + im = kız kardeşim (“my sister”). Then -in is the 3rd-person singular genitive suffix (“of …”), so kız kardeş + im + in = kız kardeşimin (“of my sister” / “my sister’s”).

Why does romanı end with -ı? Is that the accusative case?

Here -ı is the 3rd-person singular possessive suffix -(s)ı, marking “her/his/its novel.” It looks identical to the accusative marker, but because durmak is intransitive (it doesn’t take a direct object) and we already have a genitive possessor (kız kardeşimin), this -ı must be possessive, not accusative.

What does rafta mean and how is it formed?

rafta is the locative form of raf (“shelf”), meaning “on the shelf.” You add the locative suffix -da/-de after the last vowel. Since the last vowel in raf is a, you choose -da, and because f is voiceless, the d becomes t, giving raf + ta = rafta.

What does convey in this sentence?