Yeğenim parkta dondurma yiyor.

Yeğenim breaks down as:

• yeğen = nephew or niece
• -im = my

So yeğenim means my nephew or my niece.

A useful thing to know: Turkish yeğen does not show gender, so the sentence alone does not tell you whether the person is male or female.

In Turkish, possession is often shown with a suffix attached to the noun.

So instead of saying:

• my nephew/niece

Turkish says:

• yeğen-im = nephew/niece-my

This is very normal in Turkish:

• evim = my house
• arkadaşım = my friend
• kitabım = my book

Parkta means in the park or at the park.

It is made of:

• park = park
• -ta = the locative suffix, meaning in / at / on

So:

• parkta = in the park

The locative suffix has several forms:

• -da
• -de
• -ta
• -te

The form changes because of vowel harmony and consonant harmony.

Because the noun park ends in the voiceless consonant k.

After a voiceless consonant, Turkish often uses the voiceless version of the suffix:

• -da becomes -ta
• -de becomes -te

So:

• park + da would not sound right
• park + ta becomes parkta

Compare:

• evde = in the house
• okulda = at school
• parkta = in the park
• sokakta = on the street

Turkish does not have articles like English the or a/an.

So a noun can often mean:

• ice cream
• an ice cream
• the ice cream

depending on context.

Likewise:

• parkta can mean in the park or sometimes just in a park, depending on the situation.

Context usually makes it clear.

Here, dondurma means ice cream.

It is the direct object of the sentence, so it is the thing being eaten.

A learner may notice that Turkish often uses one word where English may need more context. Dondurma by itself can simply mean ice cream.

Great question. In Turkish, the direct object does not always take the accusative ending.

Compare:

• dondurma yiyor = is eating ice cream
  
  • more general, non-specific
• dondurmayı yiyor = is eating the ice cream / is eating that specific ice cream

So in your sentence, dondurma is unmarked because it is being treated as a non-specific object.

This is a very important Turkish pattern.

Yiyor is in the present continuous tense.

It means:

• is eating
• sometimes also eats, depending on context, but most naturally here: is eating

The present continuous is formed with a suffix like:

• -ıyor
• -iyor
• -uyor
• -üyor

The exact form depends on vowel harmony.

The dictionary form is yemek = to eat.

The stem is ye-.

When the present continuous ending is added, it becomes:

• ye + -iyor → yiyor

Then for he/she/it, there is no extra personal ending in this form, so:

• yiyor = he/she/it is eating

Other forms are:

• yiyorum = I am eating
• yiyorsun = you are eating
• yiyor = he/she/it is eating
• yiyoruz = we are eating

Because Turkish typically uses subject–object–verb order, and the verb often comes last.

So:

• Yeğenim = subject
• parkta = place
• dondurma = object
• yiyor = verb

This gives:

• My nephew/niece in-the-park ice-cream is-eating

That sounds unusual in English, but it is very normal in Turkish.

No. Turkish word order is flexible, although the verb usually stays near the end.

For example, you could also hear:

• Parkta yeğenim dondurma yiyor.
• Dondurma yiyor yeğenim parkta.
  
  • less neutral, more marked

The most neutral version is usually the one you were given.

Changing the order often changes emphasis, not the basic meaning.

Because Turkish often leaves pronouns out when they are not needed.

Here, the subject is already stated:

• Yeğenim = my nephew/niece

So there is no need to add o.

Even when there is no noun subject, Turkish often omits pronouns because the verb form or context makes the meaning clear.

Yes. Yeğenim can mean either one.

Turkish does not usually mark gender in nouns like this, and it also uses the same pronoun o for he, she, and it.

You know which one is meant from:

• context
• previous conversation
• names
• extra description if needed

If the speaker wants to be more specific, they may add more information, but the basic word itself is gender-neutral.

Yes, sometimes Turkish present continuous can overlap with simple present meanings in English, depending on context.

But in isolation, yiyor most naturally suggests:

• is eating

So the most natural translation of this exact sentence is:

• My nephew/niece is eating ice cream in the park.

If the speaker were talking about a habit, Turkish might use a different form, but everyday speech can sometimes allow overlap.

Yes. It is related to the verb dondurmak, which means to freeze.

So historically, dondurma is something like that which is frozen.

You do not need to analyze it that way every time, though. For learners, it is best to remember dondurma simply as the normal word for ice cream.