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?