Ben çantayı sandalyenin altına koyuyorum.

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Breakdown of Ben çantayı sandalyenin altına koyuyorum.

• koymak: to put
• sandalye: the chair
• çanta: the bag

Questions & Answers about Ben çantayı sandalyenin altına koyuyorum.

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

That’s right: in Turkish, the subject pronoun is often omitted because the verb ending already shows the person.

• koyuyorum = I am putting
• so ben is not strictly necessary

You could simply say:

• Çantayı sandalyenin altına koyuyorum.

Adding ben can give a little extra emphasis, contrast, or clarity, as in I’m the one putting it there.

Why does çanta become çantayı?

Because it is the definite direct object of the sentence.

The verb koymak means to put/place, and the thing being put is the bag. In Turkish, a definite direct object usually takes the accusative case.

• çanta = bag
• çantayı = the bag

The ending here is -(y)ı. The y is a buffer letter added because çanta ends in a vowel.

So:

• çanta = a bag / bag
• çantayı = the bag (as a direct object)

What exactly does the accusative ending mean here?