Learn Hardcore Turkish: Benimki kısa sürede biter; sizinkiler ise uzun sürebilir. - Mine will be done in a short time; yours may take longer.

Benim + ki → benimki = "mine (the one that’s mine)"
Sizin + ki + ler → sizinkiler = "yours (the ones that are yours)" Without -ki, benim and sizin must modify a noun: you can say benim kitap ("my book") but not just benim to mean "mine." Use benimki for that. The full set is: benimki, seninki, onunki, bizimki, sizinki, onlarınki.

Why is it sizinkiler (plural)? When would I use sizinki (singular)?

Use sizinki if you’re referring to one thing, and sizinkiler if you mean multiple things.

Singular: Sizinki uzun sürebilir. = "Yours (one item) may take long."
Plural: Sizinkiler uzun sürebilir. = "Yours (several items) may take long." Note: -kiler forms are also often used to refer to people close to someone ("your folks"): Sizinkiler nasıl? = "How are your family?"

Why is it biter instead of bitiyor or bitecek?

biter is the aorist (geniş zaman). Besides habits, it’s used for neutral predictions or expectations:

Kısa sürede biter. ≈ "It’ll/It should be done quickly" (a general or confident expectation). Alternatives:
bitiyor (progressive): "it is finishing/coming to an end (right now/these days)."
bitecek (future): "it will finish" (a more definite plan/commitment than the aorist’s neutral prediction).

What nuance does sürebilir add in uzun sürebilir?

The -ebil- in sürebilir expresses possibility ("may/might"), not ability here:

uzun sürer = "it takes long" (general/typical statement).
uzun sürebilir = "it may take long" (there’s a chance it will).

Shouldn’t the verb agree with the plural subject? Why not sürebilirler?

With 3rd‑person plural subjects, Turkish often uses a singular verb, especially for inanimate or indefinite subjects:

Sizinkiler uzun sürebilir. (perfectly idiomatic) If you want to emphasize plurality or you’re talking about people, you can use plural agreement:
Sizinkiler uzun sürebilirler. (also correct; more "strongly plural")

What does ise do here? Can I drop it or attach it?

ise marks contrast/topic: "as for ..." / "whereas". It draws a contrast with the first clause.

With ise: Sizinkiler ise uzun sürebilir. = "Yours, however, may take long."
Without it: Sizinkiler uzun sürebilir. (still fine, but the contrast is less explicit) You can also attach it: Sizinkilerse uzun sürebilir. (very common in writing). Similarly: Benimkiyse...

Why "kısa sürede biter" instead of "kısa sürer"?

Both are idiomatic but slightly different:

kısa sürede biter = "it finishes within a short time" (focus on completion happening soon).
kısa sürer = "it doesn’t take long" (focus on the process being short). They’re interchangeable in many contexts; the first pairs nicely with "biter" (finish) while the second mirrors "uzun sürer."

What case is kısa sürede, and why -de (not -da or -te)?

It’s the locative case, used here in a temporal sense: -de/-da/-te/-ta = "in/at/on/within."

Vowel harmony: süre has a front vowel (e) → choose -de (not -da).
Consonant voicing: final sound is a vowel, so use d (not t). Hence: süre + de → sürede.

Does sürmek mean "to drive" here?

No. sürmek is polysemous:

"to last, to take (time)" → Film uzun sürdü.
"to drive (a vehicle)" → Araba sürmek.
"to spread/smear" → Tereyağı sürmek. Here, with time, it means "to last/take (time)."

Can you break down the morphology of the sentence?

Benim-ki → benimki ("mine")
kısa süre-de → "in a short time"
bit-er → bit-(mek) + aorist -(e)r, 3sg
Sizin-ki-ler → sizinkiler ("yours" plural)
uzun sür-e-bil-ir → sür-(mek) + -e (link) + -bil (potential) + -(i)r (aorist), 3sg

Is "beninki" acceptable, or must it be "benimki"?

Standard Turkish is benimki. You’ll hear beninki colloquially by analogy with seninki, but it’s nonstandard; stick to benimki in careful usage.

Can I say "kısa zamanda" or "çabuk" instead of "kısa sürede"?

Yes, with nuance:

kısa sürede = "within a short duration" (neutral).
kısa zamanda ≈ "soon" (leans toward calendar time).
çabuk = "quickly/fast" (adverb of speed): Benimki çabuk biter. All are natural; pick based on what you want to highlight (duration vs soonness vs speed).

Where is the stress in benimki and sizinkiler?

The -ki suffix attracts stress:

be-NİM-Kİ
si-zin-Kİ-ler (the plural -ler is unstressed) Normal sentence stress can still shift for emphasis.

Can I use a comma or a conjunction instead of the semicolon?

Yes. A semicolon nicely separates two related independent clauses. You could also write:

Benimki kısa sürede biter, sizinkiler ise uzun sürebilir.
Or use a contrastive linker: Ama/oysa/sanki etc., depending on nuance.

Does sizinkiler mean "you (plural)" or "you (polite singular)"?

It can mean either. Siz is both plural "you" and polite singular. Context tells you whether it’s "your (plural)" or "your (sir/ma’am)."

Can benimki and sizinkiler take case or possessive endings?

Yes, they behave like nouns:

Benimkinin rengi "the color of mine"
Benimkine bak "look at mine"
Sizinkilerin fiyatı "the price of yours"
Sizinkilerden biri "one of yours"

How would I negate or change the modality in the second clause?

Possibility, negative: uzun sürmeyebilir = "it may not take long" (lit. may not take long)
Habitual/neutral negative: uzun sürmez = "it doesn’t take long"
Future negative: uzun sürmeyecek = "it won’t take long" Similarly for the first clause: kısa sürede bitmeyebilir / bitmez / bitmeyecek, depending on meaning.