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Antik heykel müzede duruyor.

Antik heykel müzede duruyor.
The ancient statue is in the museum.

Breakdown of Antik heykel müzede duruyor.

müze
the museum
-de
in
durmak
to stand
antik
ancient
heykel
the statue
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Questions & Answers about Antik heykel müzede duruyor.

What is the function of -de in müzede?
The suffix -de is the locative case marker, equivalent to “in” or “at” in English. It attaches to müze (“museum”) and yields müzede, meaning “in the museum.”
Why is it müzede and not müzeye?

Turkish distinguishes location vs. direction:

  • -de (locative) = “in/at” → müzede “in the museum”
  • -e (dative) = “to/towards” → müzeye “to the museum”
    Since our sentence states where the statue is (location), we use müzede.
Why isn’t there an article like “a” or “the” before antik heykel?
Turkish has no indefinite article (“a/an”) and no definite article (“the”) like English. Nouns appear without an article and context tells you if they’re definite or indefinite. So antik heykel can mean “an ancient statue” or “the ancient statue,” depending on context.
Why is the adjective antik placed before heykel?
In Turkish, adjectives always precede the noun they modify. You never say “heykel antik”; it must be antik heykel (“ancient statue”).
What does duruyor literally mean here?
duruyor is the 3rd-person singular present continuous of durmak, which literally means “to stand.” For inanimate objects like a statue, duruyor can mean “is standing” or more loosely “is located.” So Antik heykel müzede duruyor is “The ancient statue is standing in the museum,” often just “The ancient statue is in the museum.”
Could we use var or bulunuyor instead of duruyor?

Yes. Turkish offers multiple ways to express existence/location:

  • var (“there is/are”): Antik heykel müzede var.
  • bulunuyor (“is found/located”): Antik heykel müzede bulunuyor.
    duruyor adds the nuance of “standing” or “being in place,” whereas var is more neutral and bulunuyor more formal.
How does the present continuous suffix -yor work in duruyor?
  1. Start with the infinitive durmak.
  2. Remove -mak → stem dur-.
  3. Apply vowel harmony: u in dur- is a back rounded vowel, so the suffix is -uyor (not -iyor).
  4. Combine → dur-
    • -uyor = duruyor, “is standing/located.”
What is the word order of this sentence?

Turkish is Subject-Object-Verb (SOV). Here we have:
Subject: Antik heykel
Adverbial (locative) phrase: müzede
Verb: duruyor
Literally: “Ancient statue museum-in stands.”

Why is the verb duruyor in the 3rd-person singular form?
Turkish verbs agree with the subject in person and number. Because antik heykel (“the statue”) is third-person singular (it), the verb takes the bare present-continuous ending -yor without any additional person suffix: duruyor.