Yeğenimi görünce gülmeden edemiyorum.

I can’t help smiling when I see my niece or nephew.

Breakdown of Yeğenimi görünce gülmeden edemiyorum.

• benim: my
• görmek: to see
• -ünce: when
• yeğen: niece or nephew

Questions & Answers about Yeğenimi görünce gülmeden edemiyorum.

What does yeğenimi break down into?

It has three parts:

• yeğen = niece / nephew
• -im = my
• -i = the accusative ending, used here because it is a specific direct object

So yeğenimi means my niece/nephew as the person being seen.

A very literal breakdown is:

yeğen-im-i = niece/nephew-my-(specific object)

Why is it yeğenimi and not just yeğenim?

Because görmek means to see, and here my niece/nephew is the direct object of that verb.

• yeğenim = my niece/nephew
• yeğenimi = my niece/nephew as the specific thing/person I see

Compare:

• Yeğenim burada. = My niece/nephew is here.
• Yeğenimi görüyorum. = I see my niece/nephew.

So the extra -i is there because the object is definite and specific.

Does yeğen mean niece or nephew?

It can mean either one. Turkish usually does not mark that distinction in the word itself.

So yeğenim can mean:

• my niece
• my nephew

You only know which one is meant from context, or from extra words if the speaker chooses to add them.

This is very normal in Turkish. English often forces you to choose a gendered word, but Turkish often does not.