Kedi perdeleri tırmalayıp duruyor.

The cat keeps scratching the curtains.

Breakdown of Kedi perdeleri tırmalayıp duruyor.

• kedi: the cat
• perde: the curtain
• tırmalayıp durmak: to keep scratching

Questions & Answers about Kedi perdeleri tırmalayıp duruyor.

What extra meaning does the -ıp duruyor construction add?

It means the action is done repeatedly or persistently, often with an annoying, “won’t stop” tone. So it’s like saying “keeps (on) V‑ing” or “won’t stop V‑ing.” Without duruyor, the sentence would simply be a neutral ongoing action (“is V‑ing”) without that persistent/annoyed nuance.

Why is it tırmalayıp duruyor and not tırmalıyor duruyor?

Because durmak acts like an auxiliary here and the first verb must be in the converb form -Ip. You can’t chain two finite verbs. The pattern is:

• Verb1 in -Ip
  • auxiliary verb (here durmak in -yor) So: tırmala-y-ıp dur-uyor = “keeps scratching.”

How is tırmalayıp formed?

• Root: tırmala- “to scratch”
• Converb: -Ip (harmonizes as -ıp after a back vowel)
• Buffer consonant: -y- is inserted because the stem ends in a vowel Result: tırmala + y + ıp → tırmalayıp

What exactly is going on in perdeleri?

It’s a definite plural direct object:

• perde “curtain”
• -ler plural → perdeler “curtains”
• -(y)i accusative (definite object) → perdeleri “the curtains” (as a specific object)

Turkish marks definite/specific direct objects with the accusative; that’s why -i is there.