Bankta otururken gözlüğümü düşürdüm.

I dropped my glasses while sitting on the bench.

Breakdown of Bankta otururken gözlüğümü düşürdüm.

• benim: my
• düşürmek: to drop
• oturmak: to sit
• -ken: while

Questions & Answers about Bankta otururken gözlüğümü düşürdüm.

Why is it bankta and not just bank? What does the -ta ending mean?

Bank is the noun “bench”. The ending -ta is the locative case, which usually corresponds to English “in / on / at”.

• bank = bench
• bank-ta = on the bench / at the bench

In Turkish, locations almost always take the locative ending:

• evde = at home / in the house
• okulda = at school
• bankta = on the bench

So you cannot normally say just bank to mean “on the bench.” You need bankta.

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I thought banka means “(financial) bank”. Why is it bankta, not bankada?

There are two different words:

• bank = bench
• banka = bank (financial institution)

Locative forms:

• bank → bankta (on the bench)
• banka → bankada (at the bank (the place with money))

In the sentence Bankta otururken gözlüğümü düşürdüm, the meaning is clearly about a bench, so bankta is used, not bankada.

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