Learn Hardcore Turkish: Unutkan babam bazen telefonunu evde unutuyor. - My forgetful father sometimes forgets his phone at home.

Unutkan means forgetful. It’s derived from the verb root unut- (to forget) plus the adjectival suffix -kAn, which forms adjectives meaning “prone to V” or “given to V.” So unut- + -kan → unutkan “forgetful.”

Why is it Unutkan babam (adjective before the noun) and not Babam unutkan?

Unutkan babam = “my forgetful father” as an attributive adjective directly modifying the noun.
Babam unutkan = “my father is forgetful” as a full clause with a predicate adjective.
In the given sentence we want the adjective to describe the subject within one clause, so the attributive position is used.

What does the suffix -m in babam mean?

It’s the 1st person singular possessive: baba (father) + -m → babam = “my father.” The subject is singular and already marked as “my,” so no extra pronoun is needed.

How is telefonunu built morphologically?

Root: telefon
3rd person singular possessive: -sI → due to vowel harmony: telefonu (“his/her phone”)
Accusative case: -(y)I → after a 3rd-person possessive, the buffer consonant is n: telefonu
- n
  - u
    Final form: telefonunu = “his/her phone” in the accusative.

Why is the object telefonunu in the accusative?

In Turkish, a definite/specific direct object takes the accusative. We’re talking about a specific phone (his phone), so we mark it: telefonunu.
If the object were indefinite (“a phone”), you would typically leave it unmarked: telefon. For example: Bazen evde telefon unutuyor = “He sometimes forgets a phone at home” (odd in meaning, but grammatical).

Does telefonunu necessarily mean “his own phone”? Could it be someone else’s phone?

On its own, telefonunu is 3rd-person possessed and can mean “his/her phone.” In a sentence like this, with babam as subject, it is usually understood as “his own phone.”

To make “his own” explicit, say: kendi telefonunu.
If you mean someone else’s phone, you can name the possessor: onun telefonunu (his/her phone), Ayşe’nin telefonunu, etc.
Note: telefonunu can also be “your phone” (2nd person) in other contexts; Turkish relies on context or an explicit possessor to disambiguate.

Why is it evde and not evinde?

evde = “at home/in the house” (generic location; in context it typically implies one’s own home).
evinde = “in his/her home/house” (explicitly someone’s house).
Both are possible. evde sounds natural and general; evinde emphasizes “his (own) house.”

Where can the adverb bazen go? Is its position flexible?

Yes. Common placements:

Bazen unutkan babam telefonunu evde unutuyor.
Unutkan babam bazen telefonunu evde unutuyor. (your version)
Unutkan babam telefonunu bazen evde unutuyor. (focus on location varying)
Turkish allows word-order flexibility for nuance and focus. Sentence-final position for bazen is uncommon; keep it near the subject or before the verb phrase.

Is the word order telefonunu evde unutuyor the only correct one? What about evde telefonunu unutuyor?

Both are correct:

evde telefonunu unutuyor (Place before Object) is very common and neutral.
telefonunu evde unutuyor can slightly highlight the location (“it’s at home that he forgets it”), depending on intonation.
Turkish “scrambles” constituents to shift focus; the verb typically remains last.

Why is the verb unutuyor (present continuous) used for a habitual meaning?

Colloquial Turkish often uses the present continuous (-(I)yor) for repeated or habitual actions, especially with adverbs of frequency like bazen.

unutuyor = “(he) forgets” in the sense of a recurring habit (natural in speech).
The aorist unutur is also correct and slightly more generic/formal for habits: Unutkan babam bazen telefonunu evde unutur.

What exactly is in the verb form unutuyor?

Stem: unut-
Present continuous: -uyor (chosen by vowel harmony after the back rounded vowel u)
Person: 3rd singular → zero ending in this tense
So: unut-uyor = “he/she is forgetting / (habitually) forgets.”

Why doesn’t unutuyor have a personal ending like English “he forgets”?

In the present continuous, 3rd person singular has no overt personal suffix. Compare:

unutuyorum (I am forgetting)
unutuyorsun (you)
unutuyor (he/she/it) ← zero person ending
unutuyoruz, unutuyorsunuz, unutuyorlar

What’s the difference between evde unutuyor and evde bırakıyor?

unutmak = to forget (accidental). evde unutuyor implies he forgets it unintentionally.
bırakmak = to leave (on purpose). evde bırakıyor suggests a deliberate choice to leave it at home.

Could I replace the noun with a pronoun if “phone” is already known in context?

Yes. You can say: Onu evde unutuyor = “He forgets it at home.”
Here onu is the accusative of o (“it”), referring back to the previously mentioned phone.

Can I also say Benim babam instead of babam?

You can, but benim babam adds emphasis/contrast (“my father (as opposed to someone else’s)”). Plain babam already means “my father,” thanks to the possessive suffix -m.

Any quick notes on pronunciation and harmony in this sentence?

unutuyor: the progressive suffix follows vowel harmony: -uyor after the back rounded vowel u.
evde: locative -de/-da follows consonant voicing and vowel harmony; after ev, it becomes -de.
telefonunu: both the possessive -u and the accusative -u are chosen by four-way vowel harmony; the buffer n appears between them because the 3rd-person possessive ends in a vowel.