Annem kızaran topuğuma merhem sürdü.

Annem means my mother.

It is built from:

• anne = mother
• -m = my

So:

• anne = mother
• annem = my mother

This -m is a possessive ending. Turkish often says my mother / my heel / my house by adding a possessive suffix directly to the noun, instead of always using a separate word like my.

Because topuğuma means to my heel.

It breaks down like this:

• topuk = heel
• topuğum = my heel
• topuğuma = to my heel

More exactly:

• topuk
  • -um → topuğum = my heel
• topuğum
  • -a → topuğuma = to my heel

The -a / -e ending is the dative case, often meaning to or onto.

So in this sentence, the ointment is being applied to the heel, which is why the dative is used.

This is a very common Turkish sound change.

When a noun like topuk takes a suffix beginning with a vowel, the final k often softens to ğ:

• topuk → topuğum
• topuğum → topuğuma

This happens in many Turkish words:

• ayak → ayağım
• çocuk → çocuğum
• kulak → kulağım

So topuk becoming topuğ- is normal and expected.

kızaran comes from the verb kızarmak, which can mean things like:

• to become red
• to redden
• to blush
• sometimes to get irritated/red

Here, kızaran describes the heel, so it means something like:

• reddening
• that has become red
• red / irritated

It is a participle: a verb form used like an adjective.

So:

• kızaran topuğum = my heel that is turning red / my reddened heel

In natural English, you would usually translate the whole phrase more smoothly rather than word-for-word.

Turkish often uses participles where English might use:

• an adjective
• a relative clause
• a smoother descriptive phrase

So instead of saying something exactly like my red heel, Turkish can say kızaran topuğum, literally something like:

• my heel that is getting red
• my heel which has reddened

This is very normal Turkish style. Participles are extremely common.

Merhem means ointment / salve.

In this sentence, it is the thing being applied, so it is the direct object of the verb sürdü.

So the structure is roughly:

• Annem = my mother
• kızaran topuğuma = to my reddening heel
• merhem = ointment
• sürdü = applied / rubbed on

So merhem is what she applied.

Good question. In Turkish, direct objects do not always take the accusative.

Very roughly:

• merhem sürdü = applied ointment / some ointment
• merhemi sürdü = applied the ointment / that specific ointment

So the version without accusative often sounds more indefinite or non-specific.

Here, merhem sürdü is perfectly natural and means she applied ointment. If you said merhemi sürdü, it would usually sound more like a particular, already-known ointment.

Yes—sürmek has several meanings.

Some common ones are:

• to drive a vehicle
• to drag / lead
• to spread / smear / apply something on a surface

In this sentence, merhem sürmek is a very common expression meaning:

• to apply ointment
• to rub ointment on

So Annem ... merhem sürdü means My mother applied ointment ...

This is one of those Turkish verbs that has multiple everyday meanings depending on context.

Sürdü is in the simple past tense.

It comes from:

• sür- = verb stem
• -dü = past tense ending

Because of vowel harmony and consonant changes, it appears as -dü here.

So sürdü means:

• she applied
• he applied
• it applied (depending on context)

Turkish usually does not mark gender, so sürdü by itself can mean he/she/it applied. In this sentence, Annem tells us the subject is my mother, so in English we say she applied.

Because Turkish usually expresses possession with suffixes attached to the noun itself.

In this sentence:

• annem = my mother
• topuğum = my heel

So Turkish does not need a separate word like my in the way English does.

You can use a separate pronoun such as benim, but often it is unnecessary:

• annem = my mother
• benim annem = my mother, with extra emphasis or contrast

Same idea:

• topuğuma = to my heel
• benim topuğuma = to my heel, more explicit/emphatic

The sentence is:

Annem kızaran topuğuma merhem sürdü.

A helpful breakdown is:

• Annem = subject
• kızaran topuğuma = dative phrase (to my reddening heel)
• merhem = direct object
• sürdü = verb

So the order is roughly:

Subject + indirect object/location phrase + object + verb

That is very natural in Turkish, especially because Turkish often places the verb at the end.

A word-for-word arrangement in English would sound awkward, but in Turkish this order is normal.

Yes, to some extent.

Turkish word order is more flexible than English because the suffixes show the grammatical roles. So forms like these are possible:

• Annem kızaran topuğuma merhem sürdü.
• Annem merhem sürdü kızaran topuğuma.
• Kızaran topuğuma annem merhem sürdü.

They all keep the same basic meaning, but the emphasis changes.

The most neutral and standard version is the original one, with the verb at the end.

Yes, that is the literal structure, and yes, it is natural Turkish.

It combines:

• kızaran = reddening / that has turned red
• topuğum = my heel
• topuğuma = to my heel

So literally:

• to my heel that is reddening

In normal English, you would probably translate it more naturally as something like:

• to my red heel
• to my irritated heel
• to my reddened heel

But the Turkish structure itself is completely normal.