Annem pilavı tabaklara paylaştırdı.

My mother divided the rice among the plates.

Breakdown of Annem pilavı tabaklara paylaştırdı.

• benim: my
• tabak: the plate
• -lara: to (dative ending, plural)
• anne: the mother

Questions & Answers about Annem pilavı tabaklara paylaştırdı.

Why does annem mean my mother, and why isn’t benim used?

Anne means mother. The ending -m means my, so annem = my mother.

Turkish often puts possession directly on the noun, so a separate word like benim (my) is often unnecessary.

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

So in a normal sentence, annem by itself is perfectly natural.

Why is it pilavı and not just pilav?

The -ı here is the accusative case ending. It marks pilav as a specific direct object.

So:

• pilav = rice / some rice
• pilavı = the rice / that specific rice

Turkish does not have a word exactly like English the, so one common way Turkish shows specificity is with the accusative ending on the direct object.

In this sentence, the mother is distributing a particular rice dish, so pilavı is the natural form.

What does tabaklara mean exactly, and what do -lar and -a do?