Öğretmen öğrencilere bu tabloyu ezberletiyor.
The teacher is having the students memorize this table.
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Questions & Answers about Öğretmen öğrencilere bu tabloyu ezberletiyor.
What is the word order in this sentence, and can it change in Turkish?
It is S (Öğretmen) – IO (öğrencilere) – DO (bu tabloyu) – V (ezberletiyor). Turkish defaults to SOV, but you can rearrange noun phrases for emphasis as long as the verb stays last.
How is ezberletiyor constructed morphologically?
Breakdown:
• ezber (“memorization”)
• -le (verb-forming suffix “to memorize”)
• -t (causative “to make someone do it”)
• -iyor (present continuous)
So ezberletiyor literally means “(he/she) is making (someone) memorize.”
What’s the difference between ezberlemek and ezberletmek?
• ezberlemek = “to memorize” (subject memorizes)
• ezberletmek = “to make someone memorize” (subject causes another to memorize)
Example:
Elif ezberliyor = Elif is memorizing.
Öğretmen Elif’e tabloyu ezberletiyor = The teacher is making Elif memorize the table.
Why is öğrencilere in the dative case, not accusative?
The students are the recipients of the action (“to the students”). The dative suffix -e (here plural -lere) marks an indirect object. The direct object (the thing being memorized) uses the accusative.
What does the -yu in tabloyu indicate?
It’s the accusative ending (-ı/-i/-u/-ü with a buffer consonant y) marking a definite direct object. bu tabloyu = “this table” (specific).
What role does bu play in bu tabloyu?
bu is a demonstrative meaning “this.” It specifies which table is being memorized.
What does the suffix -iyor tell us in ezberletiyor?
It marks the present continuous tense, indicating an ongoing action (“is making… memorize”).
Why is there no subject suffix on öğretmen?
In Turkish, third person singular subjects stay in the nominative with no suffix. The verb’s lack of a personal ending shows it’s third person singular.
Can you drop öğretmen and still understand who’s doing the action?
You can omit the noun subject if context makes it clear. The verb ezberletiyor already shows third person singular, but without öğretmen, you lose the information that it’s the teacher.
How would you express this sentence in the past tense?
Replace -iyor with the simple past -ti:
Öğretmen öğrencilere bu tabloyu ezberletti.
This means “The teacher made the students memorize this table.”