Arkadaşım beni istasyona götürüyor.

My friend is taking me to the station.

Breakdown of Arkadaşım beni istasyona götürüyor.

• benim: my
• arkadaş: the friend
• istasyon: the station
• beni: me
• götürmek: to take

Questions & Answers about Arkadaşım beni istasyona götürüyor.

Can you break down the sentence word by word and explain the suffixes?

• Arkadaş-ım = friend + 1st person possessive suffix → my friend
• ben-i = I + accusative (direct object) → me
• istasyon-a = station + dative (to/toward) → to the station
• götür-üyor = take (away) + present continuous → is taking (3rd person singular ending is zero)

Note: The present continuous is -(I)yor. Because the stem götür- ends in a consonant, a vowel is inserted based on vowel harmony. The last vowel is ü, so we get götür + üyor → götürüyor.

Why is it beni and not ben or bana?

• ben = I (subject form)
• beni = me (accusative, direct object) → needed here because “me” is the thing being taken
• bana = to me (dative) → would mean “to me,” which isn’t the role of “me” in this sentence

Handy forms:

• ben (I)
• beni (me)
• bana (to me)
• bende (on/at me)
• benden (from me)
• benim (my)

Why istasyona instead of just istasyon?

Turkish uses case suffixes instead of separate prepositions. -a/-e (dative) marks direction “to/toward,” so istasyon + a → istasyona = “to the station.”
Related:

• istasyonda = at the station (locative, -da/-de)
• istasyondan = from the station (ablative, -dan/-den)

Because istasyon ends with a consonant, no buffer letter is needed. If a noun ends with a vowel, you’d usually see a buffer y (e.g., okul-a → okula, but kafe-ye).

What does the -ım in Arkadaşım do? Could I say Benim arkadaşım?

• -ım is the 1st person possessive suffix → my friend.
• Benim arkadaşım is also correct and more emphatic/contrastive (“my friend [as opposed to someone else’s]”). In neutral contexts, Arkadaşım is enough.
• To say “a friend of mine,” use bir arkadaşım.

How does the verb show who the subject is? Why not götürüyorum?

The subject is Arkadaşım (my friend), which is 3rd person singular, so the verb is götürüyor. Present continuous forms:

• götürüyorum = I am taking
• götürüyorsun = you (sg) are taking
• götürüyor = he/she/it is taking
• götürüyoruz = we are taking
• götürüyorsunuz = you (pl/formal) are taking
• götürüyorlar = they are taking

Can I change the word order?

Yes. Turkish is flexible, with the verb typically last. Different orders adjust emphasis:

• Arkadaşım beni istasyona götürüyor (neutral).
• Beni istasyona arkadaşım götürüyor (it’s my friend who’s taking me).
• Arkadaşım istasyona beni götürüyor (emphasis on “me”).
• İstasyona beni arkadaşım götürüyor (focus on the destination).

Can I drop the subject and just say Beni istasyona götürüyor?

Yes. That means “He/She is taking me to the station,” with the subject understood from context. To emphasize the doer, you can say Beni istasyona o götürüyor (“It’s he/she who is taking me”).

What nuance does götürüyor have compared with götürür or götürecek?

• götürüyor: present continuous (happening now) or an arranged/near-future plan (“He’s taking me [tonight]”).
• götürür: aorist/habitual/generic (“He takes me [as a habit]”).
• götürecek: future (“He will take me [later]”).

What’s the difference between götürmek and getirmek?

• götürmek: to take (away from here to somewhere else).
• getirmek: to bring (to here/our location).

Examples:

• Arkadaşım beni istasyona götürüyor. (We’re not at the station; he’s taking me there.)
• Arkadaşım beni buraya getiriyor. (He’s bringing me here.)

Could Arkadaşım be the object instead? How would that look?

Yes. If “my friend” is the direct object, you mark it with the accusative:

• Arkadaşımı istasyona götürüyor. = “He/She is taking my friend to the station.”
  Here the subject is an implied “he/she.”
  In the original sentence, Arkadaşım (without -ı) is the subject: “My friend is taking me…”

How do I turn this into a yes/no question?

Use the question particle mi/mı/mu/mü after the verb, harmonized with the preceding word’s last vowel:

• Arkadaşım beni istasyona götürüyor mu? = “Is my friend taking me to the station?”

How do I negate it?

Insert -me/-ma (negation) before the tense marker:

• Arkadaşım beni istasyona götürmüyor. = “My friend is not taking me to the station.”

Does Turkish mark gender? How do I say he vs she?

No gender is marked on verbs or third-person pronouns. O means “he/she/it.”
The sentence can mean “he” or “she” depending on context.

How do I pronounce ı, ö, ü, and ş here?

• ı (dotless i) in Arkadaşım: a close, unstressed “uh” sound (central vowel).
• ö in götürüyor: like German ö/French eu.
• ü in götürüyor: like German ü/French u.
• ş in Arkadaşım: “sh.”

Syllables: gö-tü-rü-yor. The -yor part itself doesn’t change with vowel harmony; the inserted vowel before it does.

Does istasyona necessarily mean “to the station”? What about “to a station,” and how would I say bus stop?

Turkish has no articles, so istasyona can mean either “to the station” or “to a station,” depending on context. If you need to stress indefiniteness, you can say bir istasyona, but it’s rarely necessary.
For a bus stop, use durak: durağa = “to the (bus) stop.”

How would this change with plural friends or different object pronouns?

• Plural subject: Arkadaşlarım beni istasyona götürüyor(lar). The verb may stay singular; adding -lar is optional with human plural subjects.
• Other object pronouns:
  • seni = you (sg)
  • onu = him/her/it
  • bizi = us
  • sizi = you (pl/formal)
  • onları = them

Examples:

• Arkadaşım seni istasyona götürüyor.
• Arkadaşım bizi istasyona götürüyor.