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Questions & Answers about Öğretmen ne diyor?
Why is the verb diyor instead of deyor?
The root of the verb to say is de-. When we add the present continuous suffix -iyor, the vowel e at the end of the root narrows to i. This vowel narrowing happens whenever a verb root ends in a or e and takes the -iyor suffix.
What is the dictionary form of the verb used here?
The dictionary form (infinitive) is demek, which means to say. When we remove the -mek ending, we are left with the root de-, which then changes to di- because of the vowel narrowing rule.
Why is the word for what (ne) in the middle of the sentence?
Turkish uses a Subject-Object-Verb word order. Question words like ne are usually placed right before the verb, exactly where the answer to the question would go. Literally, the sentence is structured as: The teacher what is saying?
Where is the word for is in this sentence?
Turkish doesn't use a separate helper verb like is or are for the present continuous tense. The suffix -iyor attached to the verb root does the job of both is and the -ing ending in English. Therefore, diyor by itself means is saying.