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Questions & Answers about Uçak sabah erkenden havalandı.
What does sabah erkenden mean?
sabah erkenden literally means early in the morning. Here sabah = morning, and erkenden is the adverbial form of erk (early) with the ablative suffix -den, so together they emphasize that something happened well before the usual start of the day.
Why is there no article like the or a before uçak?
Turkish has no indefinite article equivalent to a, and no separate word for the definite article the. If you want to say a plane, you would use bir uçak, but in a simple statement like this, bir is often omitted because the context makes it clear you’re talking about a plane.
Why is havalandı used instead of uçtu?
havalanmak means to take off (depart from the ground), whereas uçmak means to fly (be in the air). Once a plane has taken off it flies, but havalandı focuses on the moment it left the ground.
What does the suffix -den in erkenden do?
The suffix -den is the ablative case marker, which in adverbial time expressions often indicates “from” or “since.” In erkenden, it turns erken into “from early/early on,” functioning as an adverb.
What tense and person is havalandı, and how is it formed?
havalandı is the simple past (definite past) 3rd person singular. You have the verb stem havalan- (to take off) plus the past tense suffix -dı (which harmonizes as -dı after n), giving havalandı = “it took off.”
Can I change the word order? For example, is Sabah erkenden uçak havalandı also correct?
Yes. Turkish word order is relatively flexible. Putting the time expression first (Sabah erkenden) can add emphasis to when the action happened. Both
• Uçak sabah erkenden havalandı.
• Sabah erkenden uçak havalandı.
are correct, with only a slight shift in focus.
How do I turn this into a question: “Did the plane take off early in the morning?”
Add the question particle mı (with vowel harmony) after the verb:
Uçak sabah erkenden havalandı mı?
You can also use rising intonation to signal the question.