Learn Hardcore Turkish: Ben, bu soruyu artık cevaplayabildiğini düşünüyorum. - I think that you can answer this question now.

düşünüyorum already tells us the subject is 1st person singular (I).
So you could absolutely say:
- Bu soruyu artık cevaplayabildiğini düşünüyorum.
- Meaning stays the same: "I think you can now answer this question."

When Ben is included, it usually adds emphasis on “I”:

Ben, bu soruyu artık cevaplayabildiğini düşünüyorum.
→ I (as opposed to others) think that you can now answer this question.

So:

With Ben: more emphasis on the speaker’s opinion.
Without Ben: more neutral/typical Turkish sentence.

Why is there a comma after Ben?

The comma is mostly about style and emphasis, not strict grammar.

Ben, bu soruyu artık cevaplayabildiğini düşünüyorum.
- The comma creates a small pause after Ben, highlighting Ben for emphasis.
You can also write:
- Ben bu soruyu artık cevaplayabildiğini düşünüyorum.
- This is also correct and very common in everyday writing.

So the comma is optional here and used to emphasize the subject Ben a little more in writing. It doesn’t change the basic meaning.

What does artık mean in this sentence? Is it “now” or “anymore”?

artık has two main uses:

In positive sentences, it usually means:
- “now”, “by now”, “anymore” in a positive sense, “at this point”
- Here, it suggests a change over time: before you couldn’t, but now you can.
- So in this sentence it’s like:
  - “I think you can now answer this question” / “I think you’re finally able to answer this question.”
In negative sentences, it usually means:
- “no longer, not anymore”
- Example:
  - Artık gelmiyor. → “He/she no longer comes / doesn’t come anymore.”

So in your sentence, artık = “now / by now / at this point (after some change)” in a positive sense.

Why is bu soruyu in the accusative (-yu) form? Could it just be bu soru?

bu soruyu is the direct object of the verb inside the embedded clause (cevaplamak = “to answer”).

In Turkish:

When a direct object is specific/definite, you usually mark it with the accusative ending:
- -ı / -i / -u / -ü (depending on vowel harmony)
soru → soruyu (accusative, because it ends in a vowel, so we insert a buffer y).

Here, you are talking about a particular question (this question), so it is definite:

Bu soruyu cevaplamak → “to answer this (particular) question”

If you said bu soru cevaplamak, it would be incorrect, because:

After cevaplamak (“to answer”), its object must be in accusative if it is definite.

So bu soruyu is required and correct here.

Why is the main verb düşünüyorum at the very end of the sentence?

Turkish is generally a verb-final (SOV) language:

Subject – Object(s) – Verb.

In your sentence, the main verb of the whole sentence is düşünüyorum (I think), so it naturally appears at the very end:

Ben, bu soruyu artık cevaplayabildiğini düşünüyorum.
- [Subject] Ben
- [Embedded clause acting as object] bu soruyu artık cevaplayabildiğini
- [Main verb] düşünüyorum

The entire embedded clause bu soruyu artık cevaplayabildiğini functions like:

“that you can now answer this question” and this whole chunk is the object of “I think”.

So the pattern is:

I (subject) + that-clause (object) + think (verb), but in Turkish word order.

What exactly is inside cevaplayabildiğini? How is this long word built?

cevaplayabildiğini is built step by step from the verb cevaplamak (“to answer”):

cevapla-
→ verb root “answer”
cevapla-y-a-bil-
- -yA-bil- = the “ability/possibility” suffix: “can / be able to”
- So: cevaplayabil- → “can answer / be able to answer”
cevaplayabil-diğ-
- -DIK is a nominalizer (turns a verb into a noun-like clause); here it appears as -diğ- due to harmony.
- Now it becomes something like: “the fact of being able to answer”.
cevaplayabildiğ-in-
- -in = 2nd person singular possessive (“your”).
- Together: “your being able to answer”.
cevaplayabildiğ-in-i
- -i = accusative ending, because this whole clause is the object of düşünüyorum.
- Literally: “(I think) your being-able-to-answer-it”.

So structurally:

cevapla-y-a-bil-diğ-in-i
= answer + can + NOMINALIZER + your + ACC
→ “(that) you can answer (it)”

Does the -diğ- part in cevaplayabildiğini mean it’s past tense?

No. This is a very common confusion.

Here, -diğ- is not the past tense -dı/-di/-du/-dü.
It is part of the -DIK nominalizer:

Nominalizer: -dık / -dik / -duk / -dük / -tık / -tik / -tuk / -tük / -diğ- / -düğ-, etc.
It attaches to the verb and turns the clause into a noun-like phrase.

Examples:

geldiğini biliyorum
→ “I know (that) he/she came / has come.”
(Here there is tense.)
In your sentence: cevaplayabildiğini
→ “the fact that you can answer (it)”

In cevaplayabildiğini, there is no explicit tense marker inside the embedded clause; the time reference comes from context and from artık (“now, by now”).

So:

-diğ- here = part of the -DIK nominalizer, not the past tense ending.

How do we know the embedded subject is “you” in cevaplayabildiğini?

We know it from the possessive ending -in inside cevaplayabildiğini:

cevaplayabildiğ-in-i
- -in = 2nd person singular possessive (“your”).

In nominalized clauses with -DIK, the subject is shown with a possessive suffix:

cevaplayabildiğ-im → “that I can answer” (my being able to answer)
cevaplayabildiğ-in → “that you can answer”
cevaplayabildiğ-i → “that he/she/it can answer”
cevaplayabildiğ-imiz → “that we can answer”
etc.

So in this sentence:

cevaplayabildiğini = “that you can answer (it)”
The -in tells us the understood subject is sen (“you” informal singular).

What is the final -i doing at the end of cevaplayabildiğini?

The final -i is the accusative case marker for the whole embedded clause, because that whole clause is the object of düşünüyorum (“I think”).

Breakdown:

cevapla-y-a-bil-diğ-in → “that you can answer (it)” (literally “your being able to answer”)
cevaplayabildiğ-in-i → that thing is now in accusative, because of düşünüyorum.

In other words:

Ne düşünüyorum? → “I think what?”
Answer: cevaplayabildiğini → the whole clause.
Since it’s the object, it takes -i.

So:

Inner structure: subject of embedded clause = -in (“you”)
Outer structure: function of embedded clause in the main sentence = -i (object of düşünüyorum).

Why are there two accusatives in the same sentence: bu soruyu and cevaplayabildiğini?

Because they belong to different levels of the sentence:

bu soruyu
- Accusative object of the embedded verb (“answer”):
- Inside the subordinate clause:
  - (senin) bu soruyu cevaplayabilmen
  - “your being able to answer this question”
cevaplayabildiğini
- The entire nominalized clause is the object of the main verb:
- Main clause:
  - (Ben) [bu soruyu cevaplayabildiğini] düşünüyorum.
  - “I think [that you can answer this question].”

So:

Inner object: bu soruyu (what you can answer)
Outer object: cevaplayabildiğini (what I think)

Can we change the position of artık? For example: Artık bu soruyu cevaplayabildiğini düşünüyorum. Is that still correct?

Yes, artık is quite flexible in position, and all of these are grammatical:

Ben, bu soruyu artık cevaplayabildiğini düşünüyorum.
(Original) Neutral, artık is close to the verb cevaplayabildiğini.
Ben, artık bu soruyu cevaplayabildiğini düşünüyorum.
Emphasizes “from now on / at this point, regarding this question, I think you can answer it.”
Artık ben, bu soruyu cevaplayabildiğini düşünüyorum.
Slightly more emphasis on artık and ben together (“Now, I (for my part) think …”).
Bu soruyu cevaplayabildiğini artık düşünüyorum.
This is possible but sounds more marked; it can imply a nuance like “I now think you can answer it (whereas before I didn’t think so).”
Here artık leans more toward modifying düşünüyorum (“I now think…”).

So:

Word order changes mainly emphasis, not core meaning.
The most typical neutral positions are 1 and 2.

What’s the difference between cevaplamak and cevap vermek?

Both are widely used and mean “to answer / to reply”, but there are some nuances:

cevaplamak
- A single verb: “to answer (something)”
- Takes a direct object in accusative:
  - Bu soruyu cevapladım. → “I answered this question.”
- Often a bit more formal or textbook-like, but very common.
cevap vermek
- Literally “to give an answer”
- More colloquial in some contexts.
- Takes the object also in accusative (for the thing being answered):
  - Bu soruya cevap verdim. (Note: here it’s -a, dative, because it’s “to this question, I gave an answer.”)

In your sentence:

bu soruyu cevaplayabildiğini
→ “that you can answer this question”

You could also express a similar idea (with a slightly different construction) using cevap vermek, but the structure would change:

Bu soruya artık cevap verebildiğini düşünüyorum. → “I think you can now give an answer to this question.”

Both are natural; the original sentence just prefers cevaplamak.

Could we say cevaplayabileceğini instead of cevaplayabildiğini? What would change?

Yes, you can say it, but the nuance changes:

cevaplayabildiğini (with -DIK and no tense marker)
- In this structure/context, it suggests current ability seen as a fact:
  - “…that you are (already) able to answer it now.”
- With artık, it strongly feels like:
  - “I think you can now (already) answer this question.”
cevaplayabileceğini
- Contains the future / potential marker -ecek:
  - cevapla-y-a-bil-ecek-diğ-in-i → simplified to cevaplayabileceğini.
- Nuance: future/possible ability:
  - “…that you will be able to answer it” / “that you could answer it (in the future or in some situation).”

Compare:

Bu soruyu artık cevaplayabildiğini düşünüyorum.
→ I think you can now answer this question (you’ve reached that ability).
Bu soruyu cevaplayabileceğini düşünüyorum.
→ I think you will be able to / would be able to answer this question (more about potential, not necessarily “already now”).

With artık, cevaplayabildiğini is more natural when the idea is “finally, now you can.”

How would the sentence change if I wanted to say “I think he/she can now answer this question” instead of “you”?

You just change the possessive suffix inside the nominalized verb:

Current: cevaplayabildiğ-in-i → subject = sen (“you”)
For he/she: use -i as the 3rd person singular possessive.

So:

Ben, bu soruyu artık cevaplayabildiğ-ini düşünüyorum.
- Here -i (after -diğ-) is 3rd person possessive: “his/her/its being able to answer it.”
- Whole sentence: “I think he/she can now answer this question.”

Be careful:

cevaplayabildiğini (for he/she) and cevaplayabildiğini (for you) look identical in writing, because:
- For “you”: -in (2sg poss) + -i (acc) → -ini.
- For “he/she”: -i (3sg poss) + -ni (accusative allomorph) → also -ini.
The difference is usually clear only from context (who you are talking about).

Could we use bence instead of Ben … düşünüyorum? What’s the difference?

Yes, you can. bence means “in my opinion / I think”.

Compare:

Ben, bu soruyu artık cevaplayabildiğini düşünüyorum.
- Literally: “I think that you can now answer this question.”
- Uses a full verb (düşünüyorum) and an explicit subject (Ben).
- Slightly more formal/explicit.
Bence bu soruyu artık cevaplayabildiğini düşünüyorum.
- This is a bit redundant (it’s like saying “In my opinion, I think …”), so usually you wouldn’t keep düşünüyorum here.

More natural options:

Bence bu soruyu artık cevaplayabilirsin.
- “In my opinion, you can now answer this question.”
- Drops the nominalized clause and uses direct second-person verb -sin.
Or, staying closer to your structure:
- Bence bu soruyu artık cevaplayabildiğini söyleyebiliriz.
  (“In my opinion, we can say that you can now answer this question.”)

In short:

Ben … düşünüyorum = explicit “I think that…”
Bence … = “In my opinion …”, usually followed by a normal finite clause, not another düşünüyorum.