Parkta kahkaha duyuluyor.

Laughter is heard in the park.

Breakdown of Parkta kahkaha duyuluyor.

• park: the park
• duyulmak: to be heard
• -ta: in
• kahkaha: the laughter

Questions & Answers about Parkta kahkaha duyuluyor.

What is the most natural English translation of “Parkta kahkaha duyuluyor.”?

A very natural translation is:

• “Laughter is being heard in the park.”

You could also say more loosely:

• “You can hear laughter in the park.”
• “There’s the sound of laughter in the park.”

All of these capture the same idea: laughter can be heard coming from the park.

Why is there no article like “a” or “the” before “parkta” or “kahkaha”?

Turkish generally does not use articles the way English does.

• Parkta = in the park / in a park
  There is no separate word for “a” or “the” here; the context decides whether you understand it as the or a.

• Kahkaha = laughter
  This is used like an uncountable noun in English (“laughter” rather than “a laughter” or “the laughter”).

So “Parkta kahkaha duyuluyor.” can mean:

• “Laughter is heard in the park,”
  without needing any article in Turkish.

What is the grammatical role of “parkta” in the sentence?

Parkta is:

• From the noun park (park)
• With the locative suffix -ta (at / in / on)

So parkta literally means “in the park / at the park”.

It functions as a locative adverbial telling you where the action happens:
The hearing of laughter is taking place in the park.

What is the grammatical role of “kahkaha” here?

Kahkaha (laughter) is the thing being heard, so it is logically the object of hearing.

However, because the verb is passive (duyuluyor), kahkaha is not marked with -ı / -i / -u / -ü (the direct object/accusative marker). It appears in its bare form:

• kahkaha (bare form)
• not kahkahayı

In a passive sentence like this, the thing affected by the action (here, what is heard) appears as if it were the subject in English: “Laughter is heard.”

Why is the verb “duyuluyor” and not just “duyuyor”?

Because the sentence is in the passive voice.

• duymak = to hear
• duyuyor = (he/she/it) hears / is hearing (active)
• duyuluyor = (it) is being heard (passive)

“Parkta kahkaha duyuluyor.” literally means:
“Laughter is being heard in the park.”

If you said “Parkta kahkaha duyuyor.”, that would be ungrammatical because you’d have an active verb but no subject like “he/she/they”. You’d need something like:

• Parkta kahkaha duyuyoruz. = “We hear laughter in the park.”

How is “duyuluyor” formed morphologically?

Breakdown of duyuluyor:

• duy- : verb root, to hear
• -ul- : passive voice suffix (be heard)
• -uyor : present continuous tense suffix (is doing / are doing)

So:
duy- (hear) + -ul- (be heard) + -uyor (is currently)
→ duyuluyor = “is being heard” / “is heard”.

Who is doing the hearing in this sentence? There is no subject like “people” or “they”.

In Turkish passive sentences, the doer (the agent) is often left unspecified. The focus is on what happens, not on who does it.

• Parkta kahkaha duyuluyor.
  = “Laughter is being heard in the park.”
  (by people in general, by us, etc. — but it’s not stated)

If you want to explicitly say who hears it, you switch to an active sentence:

• Parkta kahkaha duyuyoruz.
  = “We hear laughter in the park.”

The original sentence is intentionally impersonal.

Could I say “Parkta kahkaha duyuyoruz” instead? What’s the difference in meaning?

Yes, you can, but the nuance changes:

• Parkta kahkaha duyuluyor.

  • Passive, impersonal
  • “Laughter is being heard in the park.” / “You can hear laughter in the park.”
  • General statement, not tied to any specific listener.

• Parkta kahkaha duyuyoruz.

  • Active, personal
  • “We hear laughter in the park.”
  • Explicitly says we are the ones hearing.

So use the passive if you want a general description of the situation; use the active if you want to focus on who is hearing.

Can I change the word order, like “Kahkaha parkta duyuluyor” or “Kahkaha duyuluyor parkta”?

Yes, Turkish word order is flexible, and all of these are grammatically correct:

• Parkta kahkaha duyuluyor.
• Kahkaha parkta duyuluyor.
• Kahkaha duyuluyor parkta.

The basic meaning is the same, but the emphasis shifts:

• Starting with Parkta emphasizes the location: In the park, laughter is heard.
• Starting with Kahkaha emphasizes laughter: It’s laughter that is being heard (and it’s in the park).

Turkish usually likes the finite verb at the end, but placing the other elements before it in different orders is common and used for emphasis or style.

Is “kahkaha” singular or plural? How would I say “laughters” or “bursts of laughter”?

Kahkaha is grammatically singular, but in practice it often behaves like English “laughter”, which is usually uncountable.

• kahkaha = laughter
• kahkahalar = laughs / multiple laughters / bursts of laughter

So:

• Parkta kahkaha duyuluyor.
  = “Laughter is heard in the park.”

If you really want to stress multiple bursts:

• Parkta kahkahalar duyuluyor.
  = “Bursts of laughter are heard in the park.”
  (or “Lots of laughter is heard in the park.”)

What is the difference between “duyuluyor” and “duyuldu” in similar sentences?

It’s mainly tense/aspect:

• duyuluyor

  • Present continuous passive
  • “is being heard / is heard (right now / these days / currently)”

• duyuldu

  • Simple past passive
  • “was heard”

Examples:

• Parkta kahkaha duyuluyor.
  = “Laughter is being heard in the park (now / currently).”

• Parkta kahkaha duyuldu.
  = “Laughter was heard in the park.”
  (at some time in the past, completed event)

How is “kahkaha” pronounced? The spelling looks tricky.

Kahkaha is pronounced roughly like:

• kah-kah-HA

Syllables: kah – ka – ha

Details:

• Each a is like the a in “father”.
• h is fully pronounced each time; you actually push air out.
• Stress usually falls on the last syllable: kah-ka-HA.

So it’s three clear syllables with audible h sounds in the middle and the end.