Breakdown of Anneannem, dedemin eskiden her pazar bizi parka götürdüğünü tekrar anlattı.
Questions & Answers about Anneannem, dedemin eskiden her pazar bizi parka götürdüğünü tekrar anlattı.
Why is dedemin in the -in form instead of just dedem, even though he is the one doing the action?
Because dedemin is the subject of an embedded, noun-like clause.
In a simple sentence, you would say:
- Dedem bizi parka götürdü. = My grandfather took us to the park.
But here, that whole idea becomes the object of anlattı:
- dedemin ... götürdüğünü = that my grandfather took/used to take ...
With this very common Turkish pattern, the subject of the embedded clause usually takes the genitive ending:
- dedem → dedemin
So dedemin does not mean to my grandfather here. It marks my grandfather as the subject inside the subordinate clause.
What exactly is götürdüğünü? It looks much longer than a normal verb.
Götürdüğünü is a nominalized verb form, meaning something like that he took or his taking.
It can be broken down like this:
- götür- = take / bring
- -dük / -dik / -duk / -dük type form = a clause-forming suffix
- -ü = third person possessive
- -nü = accusative, with buffer n
So:
- götürdüğü = that he took / his taking
- götürdüğünü = that same clause, now marked as the object of anlattı
The full chunk:
- dedemin eskiden her pazar bizi parka götürdüğünü
means:
- that my grandfather used to take us to the park every Sunday in the old days
This is a very common Turkish structure:
- [genitive subject] + [verb + -DIK + possessive + case]
Why is bizi used instead of biz?
Because bizi is the direct object form of we/us.
- biz = we
- bizi = us
In the embedded clause, the grandfather is taking us, so Turkish uses the object form:
- dedemin bizi parka götürdüğünü
Personal pronouns in Turkish usually show their case endings clearly, so biz would be wrong here.
Why is it parka and not parkı or parkta?
Because götürmek normally takes a destination in the dative case: to the park.
- park = park
- parka = to the park
- parkta = in/at the park
- parkı = the park as a direct object
So:
- bizi parka götürmek = to take us to the park
This is just the normal case pattern used with götürmek.
How does eskiden her pazar work here? Why are both used?
They add slightly different pieces of meaning:
- eskiden = in the old days / formerly / back then
- her pazar = every Sunday
Together they show a habitual action in the past:
- eskiden her pazar = every Sunday back then
That is why the sentence is understood as used to take us every Sunday, not just a one-time event.
Does tekrar mean that the grandfather took them again, or that the grandmother told the story again?
It means the grandmother told it again.
In this sentence, tekrar is connected to the main verb anlattı:
- Anneannem ... tekrar anlattı. = My grandmother told it again.
It does not mean the taking happened again. The repeated event is the telling, not the taking.
Why is the main verb anlattı at the very end?
Because Turkish is normally a verb-final language.
The whole clause dedemin eskiden her pazar bizi parka götürdüğünü functions as the object, and then the main verb comes last:
- Anneannem, [that my grandfather used to take us to the park every Sunday], again told.
That is not natural English word order, but it is very normal Turkish structure.
A more literal shape is:
- My grandmother [my grandfather’s having taken us to the park every Sunday back then] told again.
Natural English rearranges it as:
- My grandmother told again that my grandfather used to take us to the park every Sunday.
What does anneannem mean exactly?
Anneannem means my maternal grandmother.
It is made from:
- anneanne = maternal grandmother
- -m = my
So:
- anneannem = my mother’s mother / my grandma on my mother’s side
This is more specific than English grandmother, because Turkish often distinguishes:
- anneanne = maternal grandmother
- babaanne = paternal grandmother
Why is there a comma after Anneannem?
It is not essential to the grammar, and many writers would simply leave it out:
- Anneannem dedemin eskiden her pazar bizi parka götürdüğünü tekrar anlattı.
The comma can suggest a pause or topical emphasis, something like:
- As for my grandmother, she told again...
But in standard neutral writing, the version without the comma is usually more straightforward.
So if you are learning to write Turkish, it is safest not to treat that comma as required.
Could this sentence be said with a different word order?
Yes. Turkish word order is flexible, although some orders sound more natural than others.
For example, tekrar can move:
- Anneannem dedemin eskiden her pazar bizi parka götürdüğünü tekrar anlattı.
- Anneannem tekrar dedemin eskiden her pazar bizi parka götürdüğünü anlattı.
Both mean roughly the same thing: My grandmother told again that my grandfather used to take us to the park every Sunday.
Also, elements inside the embedded clause can move around somewhat:
- dedemin bizi eskiden her pazar parka götürdüğünü
This is still understandable, but the original order sounds quite natural.
So Turkish word order is flexible, but the most important rule remains: the main verb usually stays near the end.
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