Kalemleri koliden çıkarıp masaya koyar mısın?

the pen

Breakdown of Kalemleri koliden çıkarıp masaya koyar mısın?

• sen: you
• masa: the table
• koymak: to put

Questions & Answers about Kalemleri koliden çıkarıp masaya koyar mısın?

What does the ending in kalemleri mean?

It’s plural plus the definite object marker: kalem-ler-i = “the pens/pencils” (specific ones). Note: kalemleri can also mean “his/her/their pens” (3rd-person possessive), but here the context clearly uses the accusative of a known set.

Why is the object (kalemleri) placed at the beginning?

Turkish is flexible, but the neutral pattern is object + other phrases + verb. Starting with kalemleri topicalizes/emphasizes “the pens.” You could also say: Koliden kalemleri çıkarıp masaya koyar mısın? The meaning stays the same; the emphasis shifts slightly.

What exactly is koliden and why that ending?

koli-den = “from the box.” The suffix -den/-dan/-ten/-tan is the ablative (“from”). Because koli ends in a vowel and is front-vowelled, you get -den. Also, koli is a cardboard shipping box; a more generic “box” is kutu (e.g., kutudan = “from the box”).

Why masaya and not masada?

masa-ya is the dative (“to/toward”) used with verbs of placement like koymak. Masada is locative (“at/on the table”). To emphasize “onto the top,” you can say masanın üstüne (also dative).