Word
Televizyonu açabilmek için kumandayı bulmalıyım.
Meaning
I must find the remote to be able to turn on the television.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of Televizyonu açabilmek için kumandayı bulmalıyım.
için
for
bulmak
to find
-malı
must
televizyon
the television
Questions & Answers about Televizyonu açabilmek için kumandayı bulmalıyım.
Why do televizyonu and kumandayı have endings on them?
Those endings mark the definite direct object in Turkish.
- televizyon = television
- televizyonu = the television as the object of the verb
- kumanda = remote control
- kumandayı = the remote control as the object of the verb
In this sentence, both nouns are specific, known things, so they take the accusative ending.
A quick breakdown:
- televizyon + u
- kumanda + yı
The y in kumandayı is a buffer consonant added because the noun ends in a vowel.
Why is it açabilmek instead of just açmak?
Açabilmek means to be able to open / turn on.
It is built like this:
- aç- = open, turn on
- -abil- = be able to
- -mek = infinitive ending, like to ...
So:
- açmak = to open / to turn on
- açabilmek = to be able to open / to be able to turn on
In this sentence, açabilmek için means in order to be able to turn on.
This suggests that finding the remote is a necessary step before turning on the TV is even possible.