Yangın alarmı çalıyor.

The fire alarm is ringing.

Breakdown of Yangın alarmı çalıyor.

• çalmak: to ring
• yangın alarmı: the fire alarm

Questions & Answers about Yangın alarmı çalıyor.

What are the parts and structure of this sentence?

• Yangın = fire (as in a blaze)
• alarm-ı = alarm + 3rd person possessive suffix -ı (forms an indefinite noun compound with the first noun): together yangın alarmı = fire alarm
• çal-ıyor = root çal- (to ring/play/steal) + progressive -(I)yor = is ringing

This is a simple Subject–Verb sentence: Subject Yangın alarmı, Verb çalıyor. Turkish has no articles, so context supplies English the or a.

Why is it alarmı and not just alarm?

Because yangın alarmı is an indefinite noun compound (belirtisiz isim tamlaması). In this pattern, the first noun is bare, and the second noun takes the 3rd person possessive suffix:

• yangın alarmı = fire alarm
• polis arabası = police car
• güvenlik kamerası = security camera

So -ı here is a possessive marker used to build the compound, not an object marker.

Is the -ı on alarmı the accusative case? The noun is the subject, not an object.

No. Here -ı is the 3rd person possessive used in compounds. Accusative is only used on definite direct objects. Compare:

• Subject: Yangın alarmı çalıyor. (The fire alarm is ringing.)
• Definite object: Yangın alarmını duyuyorum. (I hear the fire alarm.)

In the object form, you see both the compound possessive and the accusative: alarm-ı-nı (possessive -ı + buffer -n + accusative -ı).

Could I say ateş alarmı instead of yangın alarmı?

No. Ateş means flame/fire in general (also fever), while yangın is specifically a destructive fire. The established term is yangın alarmı.

What exactly does çalıyor mean here? Doesn’t çalmak also mean “to steal”?

Yes, çalmak is polysemous:

• Ring/sound: telefon/zil/alarm çalıyor (phone/bell/alarm is ringing)
• Play an instrument: gitar çalıyor (plays guitar)
• Steal: cüzdan çaldı (stole a wallet)

Context disambiguates. With alarm, it means ring/sound.

Why is it çalıyor with dotless ı and not çaliyor?

The progressive suffix is -(I)yor, where the capital I harmonizes with the last vowel of the stem:

• çal-ıyor (a → ı)
• gel-iyor (e → i)
• oku-yor (o → u)
• yür-üyor (ü → ü)

So the dotless ı comes from vowel harmony with the stem vowel a.

How do I make it negative or ask a yes/no question?

• Negative: insert -mA- before -(I)yor → Yangın alarmı çalmıyor. (is not ringing)
• Yes/no question: add the question particle mi/mi/mu/mü after the verb, harmonized and separate → Yangın alarmı çalıyor mu?
• Negative question: Yangın alarmı çalmıyor mu?

How do I say it in the past or future?

• Simple past: Yangın alarmı çaldı. (rang)
• Future: Yangın alarmı çalacak. (will ring)
• Started to ring: Yangın alarmı çalmaya başladı.

What’s the difference between çalıyor and çalar?

• çalıyor = present continuous (right now)
• çalar = aorist/habitual or generic truth (what generally happens) Examples:
• Alarm genelde 7’de çalar. (The alarm generally rings at 7.)
• Şu an alarm çalıyor. (The alarm is ringing right now.) Also, çalar saat literally means a clock that rings = alarm clock.

Can the word order change?

Default is Subject–Verb: Yangın alarmı çalıyor.
For emphasis you can front the verb or another element: Çalıyor yangın alarmı, but the neutral, most natural order is Subject–Verb.

How do I pronounce the special letters here?

• ı (dotless i): a close, central vowel; think the vowel in English roses or about, but shorter and backer.
• ç: like English ch in church.
• yangın: say roughly yan-guhn (the ng is like English singer + a light g).
• çalıyor: cha-luh-yor (main stress often felt near the -yor).

Where does the stress fall?

Turkish usually stresses the last syllable of a word. In the progressive, -yor tends to carry the stress:

• yan-GIN
• a-lar-Mı
• ça-lı-YOR Said together: yanGIN aLARmı çaLIYOR (sentence-level intonation also matters).

How do I say “The fire alarms are ringing”?

Yangın alarmları çalıyor.
Here alarmları is plural + compound possessive. Note that alarmları can also mean their alarms in other contexts; the sentence context resolves the ambiguity.

Are there other natural ways to say “The fire alarm is going off”?

Yes:

• Yangın alarmı ötüyor. (beeping/sounding; very common with alarms/sirens)
• Yangın alarmı devreye girdi. (has activated; formal/technical)
• Yangın alarmı çalmaya başladı. (started to ring)

Do I need a word for “the” here?

No. Turkish has no articles. Yangın alarmı can map to English the fire alarm or a fire alarm depending on context. Definiteness on objects is often shown with the accusative; subjects rely on context.

How would I say “My fire alarm is ringing”?

Yangın alarmım çalıyor.
Here alarm-ım is the 1st person singular possessive (my). Others:

• Yangın alarmın çalıyor. (your, sg.)
• Yangın alarmı çalıyor. (his/her/its or the, depending on context)