Questions & Answers about Kartvizitte telefon ve adres net yazıyor.
What does the word kartvizitte mean and how is it formed?
It means “on the business card.” Breakdown: kartvizit (business card) + locative suffix -de/-da/-te/-ta → kartvizitte. After a voiceless consonant like t, Turkish uses -te/-ta, hence -te. You see double t because the stem ends in t and the suffix begins with t (cf. devlette, fırsatta). The locative covers “in/on/at.”
Why is yazıyor understood as “is written/it reads” rather than “is writing”?
Besides “to write,” Turkish yazmak is often used intransitively to mean “to be written/it says.” Pattern: X’te … yazıyor = “On X, it says … / … is written.” Examples: Kağıtta adım yazıyor. “My name is written on the paper.” Duvarda ‘Sigara içilmez’ yazıyor.
Could I say yazılı or yazılmış instead of yazıyor? What’s the difference?
- yazılı: an adjective meaning “written.” More static/formal: Kartvizitte telefon ve adres net yazılı.
- yazılmış: passive with the evidential -mış; emphasizes a completed result or what you infer/notice: Kartvizitte telefon ve adres net yazılmış.
- yazıyor: neutral “it reads”/“is written” as you report what you see.
Shouldn’t the verb be plural () since there are two items?