Learn Hardcore Turkish: Şimdi kısa bir ara verelim; sonra ne öğrendiğimizi birlikte hatırlayacağız. - Let’s take a short break now; then we will remember together what we have learned.

Şimdi kısa bir ara verelim
– implied subject: (biz) “we”
– object: kısa bir ara
– verb: verelim
Sonra ne öğrendiğimizi birlikte hatırlayacağız
– implied subject: (biz)
– object: ne öğrendiğimizi
– adverb: birlikte
– verb: hatırlayacağız

So verbs naturally come at the end of their clause. Putting them at the end is normal and unmarked in Turkish, not a special emphasis.

Where is the subject “we” in this sentence? Why isn’t biz written?

The subject “we” is built into the verb endings, so you usually don’t write biz unless you want emphasis.

verelim = ver- (give) + -elim (1st person plural “let’s”) → let’s give / let’s take
hatırlayacağız = hatırla- (remember) + -yacak (future) + -ız (we) → we will remember

Because the verb already shows the person and number, Turkish normally omits subject pronouns:

Verelim. = Let’s (we) do it.
Hatırlayacağız. = (We) will remember.

If you say Biz hatırlayacağız, you’re stressing we (as opposed to someone else).

What exactly does the ending -elim in verelim express?

-elim is the 1st person plural “let’s …” ending. It’s sometimes called the optative or the 1st person plural imperative.

It suggests a proposal or invitation involving the speaker:
verelim → let’s give / let’s take
gidelim → let’s go
başlayalım → let’s start

It’s softer and more inclusive than a command:

Başla! – Start! (you, singular, direct order)
Başlayalım. – Let’s start. (you + me, friendly suggestion)

Why do we say ara verelim (“let’s give a break”) instead of something closer to English like “break alalım” (“let’s take a break”)?

In Turkish, ara vermek is a fixed expression meaning “to take a break”:

ara – interval, break
vermek – to give
ara vermek – literally “to give an interval” → to have/take a break

Some languages like Turkish package meanings with “light verbs” such as vermek (give), almak (take), yapmak (do/make), etc.

You can’t generally replace vermek with almak here; ara almak does not mean “to take a break” in standard usage. You just need to memorize ara vermek as the natural collocation.

In kısa bir ara, why does bir come after the adjective, not before it like English “a short break”?

The normal order in Turkish noun phrases is:

[adjective(s)] + bir + noun

So:

kısa bir ara = a short break
– kısa – short
– bir – “a / one”
– ara – break

Other examples:

güzel bir kitap – a nice book
yeni bir telefon – a new phone

So bir usually comes between the adjective and the noun when it works like an indefinite article.

Can we drop bir in kısa bir ara? What changes if we just say kısa ara verelim?

Yes, you can drop bir, and it’s still correct:

Şimdi kısa bir ara verelim.
Şimdi kısa ara verelim.

Both are understandable and natural.

Nuance:

kısa bir ara – feels a bit like “one short break”, slightly more unit-like / countable.
kısa ara – more generic: “short break” as a type, without highlighting “one”.

In everyday speech, both versions are used. In this sentence, kısa bir ara sounds slightly more natural and “complete”, especially in instructional contexts.

How is the long word öğrendiğimizi built up, piece by piece?

Breakdown (underlying morphemes):

öğren- – root: to learn
-dik – participle / nominalizer (“that …”, “what …”)
-imiz – “our / we” (1st person plural possessive/subject in this structure)
-i – accusative case ending

Phonetic changes happen when these join:

öğren- + -dik → öğrendik (normal past we learned)
When -imiz comes after -dik, the k usually softens to ğ:
öğrendik + -imiz → öğrendiğimiz
Add -i (accusative):
öğrendiğimiz + -i → öğrendiğimizi

So öğrendiğimizi literally corresponds to something like “what we learned” (as an object of another verb).

What does the -dik / -diğ- participle do in structures like ne öğrendiğimizi?

The suffix -dik (which appears as -dık / -dik / -duk / -dük / -tık … depending on vowel harmony and consonants) is a nominalizing participle:

It turns a verb phrase into something noun-like, so it can function as:
- a clause: “that we learned”
- or a “what …” phrase when combined with ne: “what we learned”.

In ne öğrendiğimizi:

ne – what
öğren- – to learn
-dik – participle
-imiz – we/our
-i – accusative

Together: ne öğrendiğimizi → “what (it is that) we learned”.

This -dik structure is very common for embedded clauses:

Söylediğini duydum. – I heard what you said / that you said (it).
Geldiğini biliyorum. – I know that you came.

Why is there an extra -i at the end of öğrendiğimizi?

That final -i is the accusative case ending.

In … ne öğrendiğimizi birlikte hatırlayacağız:

The object of hatırlayacağız (we will remember) is ne öğrendiğimizi (what we learned).
Direct objects that are specific/definite in Turkish normally take the accusative case.

So:

ne öğrendiğimiz – “what we learned” (in isolation)
ne öğrendiğimizi hatırlayacağız – “we will remember what we learned”

That -i marks “what we learned” as the specific thing we will remember.

Why can’t we just say Sonra ne öğrendik? instead of Sonra ne öğrendiğimizi birlikte hatırlayacağız?

They mean different things and have different structures:

Sonra ne öğrendik?
– This is a direct question: “Then what did we learn?”
– It ends with a question mark and asks for information.
Sonra ne öğrendiğimizi birlikte hatırlayacağız.
– This is a statement, not a question.
– “Then we will remember what we learned together.”

Here, ne öğrendiğimizi is an embedded / indirect question acting as the object of hatırlayacağız:

direct: Ne öğrendik? – What did we learn?
embedded: ne öğrendiğimizi hatırlayacağız – we will remember what we learned

So you can’t replace the embedded clause with a simple past question form without changing the sentence type and meaning.

What is the role of birlikte in this sentence, and where can it appear?

birlikte means “together”.

In this sentence, it specifies how you will remember:

… ne öğrendiğimizi birlikte hatırlayacağız.
→ we will remember what we learned together.

Typical positions:

Before the verb:
Birlikte hatırlayacağız.
After the object and before the verb (as in the original):
Ne öğrendiğimizi birlikte hatırlayacağız.

Other examples:

Bu projeyi birlikte yapalım. – Let’s do this project together.
Hep birlikte gideceğiz. – We will all go together.

It’s flexible, but it normally appears close to the verb or the object, not thrown randomly anywhere.

How does the future tense hatırlayacağız work? Is there a separate word for “will”?

Turkish doesn’t use a separate auxiliary like “will”. Future is marked directly on the verb.

hatırlayacağız breaks down as:

hatırla- – remember
-yacak / -ecek – future tense marker
-ız – 1st person plural “we”

So hatırlayacağız = we will remember.

Other examples:

gideceğim = git- (go) + -ecek
- -im → I will go
göreceksin = gör- (see) + -ecek
- -sin → you will see

The future is often used with adverbs like sonra (later/then), yarın (tomorrow), etc., just like English “will”.

What is the difference between şimdi and other ways of saying “now”, like şu an or şu anda?

All of these can often be translated as “now”, but there are slight nuances:

şimdi – very common, simple “now / at this moment”.
şu an – literally “this moment”; a bit more moment-focused, sometimes slightly more colloquial.
şu anda – like şu an but with the locative -da (“at this moment”), sounds slightly more explicit / formal.

In most everyday situations:

Şimdi kısa bir ara verelim.
Şu an kısa bir ara verelim.
Şu anda kısa bir ara verelim.

All are possible; şimdi is the most neutral and common choice in a classroom or instructional context.

How is öğrendiğimizi pronounced, especially the letter ğ?

In modern standard Turkish, ğ (yumuşak g, “soft g”) is not pronounced as a normal “g”. Instead, it:

lengthens the preceding vowel,
and often is almost silent.

For öğrendiğimizi:

öğ- sounds like a long “öö”
approximate pronunciation: [öː-ren-diː-mi-zi]

So:

öğren- ≈ “öören–”
dağ ≈ “daa” (long a)
soğuk ≈ “soo-uk” (long o)

You never pronounce ğ as in English “go”; think of it as a marker that stretches the previous vowel.

Does the semicolon ; in this sentence work the same way as in English?

Yes, pretty much. In Turkish, ; is also used to separate two closely related independent clauses:

Şimdi kısa bir ara verelim; sonra ne öğrendiğimizi birlikte hatırlayacağız.

You could also write this with a period or with a conjunction:

Şimdi kısa bir ara verelim. Sonra ne öğrendiğimizi birlikte hatırlayacağız.
Şimdi kısa bir ara verelim ve sonra ne öğrendiğimizi birlikte hatırlayacağız.

The semicolon here emphasizes that the two actions are separate but tightly connected steps. Turkish punctuation conventions for semicolons are broadly similar to English, though many native speakers simply use a comma or a period in casual writing.