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Questions & Answers about Çiçekler soluyor.
What does the plural suffix -ler do here, and how do I choose between -lar and -ler?
-lar/-ler marks plural. Turkish uses vowel harmony:
- If the last vowel of the noun is front (e, i, ö, ü), use -ler.
- If it’s back (a, ı, o, u), use -lar. Because çiçek ends with the front vowel e, you get çiçekler.
Where is the word are? Why isn’t there a separate auxiliary?
Turkish doesn’t use a separate auxiliary like English are in the present continuous. The suffix -yor on the verb expresses the -ing aspect (am/is/are …-ing). Person/number is understood from context; in 3rd person, there’s often no extra ending. So soluyor already means is/are withering depending on the subject.
Should the verb be plural? Why not soluyorlar?
In Turkish, 3rd-person plural agreement on the verb is usually optional and is most natural with human subjects. With inanimate subjects like çiçekler, the singular verb is standard: Çiçekler soluyor. Çiçekler soluyorlar is colloquial and often avoided in careful speech/writing. If the subject is omitted, Soluyorlar can be used to make the plurality explicit.
What’s the difference between Çiçekler soluyor and ?