Learn Hardcore Turkish: Mahkeme bugün uzun oldu.

Mahkeme as institution:
- Mahkeme yarın karar verecek. – The court will decide tomorrow.
Mahkeme as hearing/session (our sentence):
- Mahkeme bugün uzun oldu. – Today’s hearing took a long time / was long.

Very often in everyday speech, when someone says mahkeme, they mean the session/hearing they attended, unless the context clearly points to the institution or building.

You could also use duruşma (hearing/session):

Duruşma bugün uzun oldu. – Very close in meaning, more clearly “hearing”.

Why is there no word for “the” before mahkeme? How do Turkish speakers know it means “the court” and not “a court”?

Turkish does not have a separate word for “the”. Definiteness is usually understood from context, word order, and case endings.

Mahkeme bugün uzun oldu.
> In context, this means “The court (today’s hearing) was long”, because both speaker and listener know which court session is being discussed (e.g. the one they were at).
If you needed to emphasize that it was some court or other, context or extra words would clarify, e.g.:
- Bir mahkeme çok uzun sürdü. – A court hearing lasted a long time.

So:

Turkish mahkeme can correspond to the court or a court in English.
The listener uses shared context to interpret it as definite (“the”) here.

Why is bugün placed in the middle? Could I say “Bugün mahkeme uzun oldu” or “Mahkeme uzun oldu bugün” instead?

Yes, you can change the position of bugün, and all of these are grammatical:

Mahkeme bugün uzun oldu.
Bugün mahkeme uzun oldu.
Mahkeme uzun oldu bugün.

Basic ideas:

Turkish word order is flexible, especially with adverbs like bugün.
The default neutral pattern is often [Subject] [Time] [Object/Other] [Verb], so Mahkeme bugün uzun oldu sounds very natural.
Bugün mahkeme uzun oldu puts a bit more emphasis on bugün: As for today, the court was long.
Mahkeme uzun oldu bugün can sound a bit more emotional or emphatic in speech: you’re stressing that today it turned out long.

Meaning-wise, all three are very close. The differences are nuance and focus, not grammar.

Why do we use oldu here instead of just saying “Mahkeme bugün uzundu”? What’s the difference between uzun oldu and uzundu?

Both are correct, but they have a slightly different feel:

Mahkeme bugün uzundu.
- Literally: The court was long today.
- Stative / descriptive: you’re simply describing the state – it was long.
Mahkeme bugün uzun oldu.
- Literally: The court became/turned out long today.
- Uses olmak (to become, to be) in the past.
- Often has a more event-like or evaluative feel: it ended up being long, turned out long, maybe somewhat unexpectedly or as a result.

In everyday conversation, people often choose uzun oldu when:

They’re evaluating how the day went:
- Phew, today’s hearing ended up being long.
They want to sound a bit more colloquial / conversational.

Uzundu is more neutral, purely descriptive.
Uzun oldu can sound like you’re giving a verdict on how the session went today.

What exactly is oldu grammatically? Which verb and which tense/person are involved?

Oldu comes from the verb olmak = to be / to become / to happen.

Breakdown:

ol- : verb stem (olmak)
-du : simple past tense suffix (-dı / -di / -du / -dü, changes with vowel harmony)

There is no personal ending here because the subject (mahkeme) is a third-person singular noun. In the simple past for 3rd person singular, the form is just:

ol-du – it was / it became / it happened

So oldu in the sentence is:

3rd person singular, simple past of olmak,
functioning as “was/became” together with the adjective uzun.

Could we just say “Mahkeme bugün uzun” without oldu or any tense ending? Why do we need oldu (or -du) in Turkish?

In standard, complete sentences, you cannot normally leave out the past-tense element. You need either:

a past-tense suffix on the adjective:
- Mahkeme bugün uzundu. – The court was long today.
or a past-tense form of “olmak”:
- Mahkeme bugün uzun oldu.

Mahkeme bugün uzun by itself:

Could appear in very informal spoken language as an ellipsis, with the tense understood from context.
But as a standalone, written sentence, it is considered incomplete/unnatural for the past meaning.

In Turkish, past time usually has to be shown explicitly with:

-di/-dı/-du/-dü (or variants like -tı/-ti etc.),
or a past form of olmak.

English often “hides” the copula tense in “was”, but in Turkish you see it as a suffix or as oldu.

Does uzun here mean “physically long”? How can uzun describe time?

Literally, uzun means “long” (in length). But, just like in English, it’s commonly used metaphorically for time:

Bu film çok uzun. – This movie is very long.
Toplantı çok uzun sürdü. – The meeting lasted a long time.

In Mahkeme bugün uzun oldu, uzun means:

The court session took a long time / lasted a long time.
It’s about duration, not physical length.

So:

Physical: uzun yol – long road
Temporal: uzun toplantı, uzun mahkeme – long meeting, long court session

Is there a difference in nuance if I say “Bugün mahkeme uzun oldu” instead of “Mahkeme bugün uzun oldu”?

Both are grammatical and common; the difference is focus:

Mahkeme bugün uzun oldu.
- Neutral, natural order: subject (mahkeme) first, then time (bugün).
- Focus is slightly more on the court session: The court was long today.
Bugün mahkeme uzun oldu.
- Fronting bugün brings today to the front.
- Slightly more like: As for today, the court was long.
- Could contrast with other days (implying: maybe it’s not always like this).

In normal speech, both are fine. Use Bugün mahkeme uzun oldu if you want to highlight “today” (e.g., comparing today with other days).

How would I say “The court will be long today” (future) instead of “was long today”?

To express future, you have two very natural options:

With olmak in the future:
- Mahkeme bugün uzun olacak.
  > The court will be long today.
With the verb sürmek (to last):
- Mahkeme bugün uzun sürecek.
  > The court will last long today / The court will take a long time today.

Both are correct:

uzun olacak: focuses on the state (it will be long).
uzun sürecek: focuses on the duration as a process (it will last a long time).

If I want to complain more strongly, like “The court took forever today”, how could I extend or modify this sentence?

You can strengthen uzun with adverbs or choose a more vivid verb. Common options:

Intensify uzun:
- Mahkeme bugün çok uzun oldu.
  > The court was very long today.
- Mahkeme bugün aşırı uzun oldu. (colloquial)
  > The court was extremely long today.
Use sürmek (to last):
- Mahkeme bugün çok uzun sürdü.
  > The court lasted a very long time today.
Add a complaining tone with resmen (“practically / literally” in colloquial use):
- Mahkeme bugün resmen saatlerce sürdü.
  > The court literally lasted for hours today.

These keep the core meaning and add the sense of frustration / complaint that English “took forever” expresses.