Ben marulu küçük küçük doğrayıp salataya ekliyorum.

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Breakdown of Ben marulu küçük küçük doğrayıp salataya ekliyorum.

• eklemek: to add
• salata: the salad
• -ıp: and

Questions & Answers about Ben marulu küçük küçük doğrayıp salataya ekliyorum.

Why is ben included? I thought Turkish often leaves subject pronouns out.

That’s right: Turkish often drops subject pronouns because the verb ending already shows who is doing the action.

• ekliyorum = I am adding / I add
• The -um ending already tells us the subject is I

So Ben marulu küçük küçük doğrayıp salataya ekliyorum and Marulu küçük küçük doğrayıp salataya ekliyorum can both mean the same thing.

Including ben usually adds a bit of emphasis or contrast, like:

• I’m the one who chops the lettuce and adds it to the salad.
• As for me, I chop the lettuce finely and add it to the salad.

Why is it marulu and not just marul?

Because marulu is the definite direct object form of marul (lettuce).

Turkish often marks a specific direct object with the accusative case. Here:

• marul = lettuce
• marulu = the lettuce

So the sentence is talking about a specific lettuce / the lettuce, not lettuce in a general sense.

Compare:

• Marul doğruyorum = I’m chopping lettuce.
• Marulu doğruyorum = I’m chopping the lettuce.

The -u is the accusative ending here.

Why is the accusative ending -u in marulu?