Maşallah, civcivler ne kadar hareketli; biri durmadan çimenlerin üstünde koşuyor.

Wow, the chicks are so lively; one of them keeps running on the grass.

Breakdown of Maşallah, civcivler ne kadar hareketli; biri durmadan çimenlerin üstünde koşuyor.

• olmak: to be
• koşmak: to run
• durmak: to stop
• -madan: without

Questions & Answers about Maşallah, civcivler ne kadar hareketli; biri durmadan çimenlerin üstünde koşuyor.

What does Maşallah mean here?

Maşallah is a very common Turkish expression used when reacting to something pleasing, cute, beautiful, impressive, or admirable. In this sentence, it expresses warm admiration, something like:

• Aww, how lovely
• Look how lively they are
• Bless them

It does not translate neatly word-for-word into natural English, so it is best understood as a cultural exclamation of affection or admiration.

Is ne kadar hareketli a question?

No. Here ne kadar does not mean a real information question like how much? Instead, it is exclamatory:

• Ne kadar hareketli! = How lively they are! / They’re so lively!

So in this sentence, civcivler ne kadar hareketli is an exclamation, not a request for information.

Why is there no word for are in civcivler ne kadar hareketli?

In Turkish, the verb to be is often omitted in the present tense when linking a subject to an adjective or noun.

So:

• Civcivler hareketli. = The chicks are lively.

There is no separate word corresponding to English are here. This is normal Turkish sentence structure.