Log inSign up

Siz inekleri elle sağıyordunuz.

Siz inekleri elle sağıyordunuz.
You were milking the cows by hand.
From Lesson 132:Past continuous with personal endings (-iyordum, -iyordun)·Turkish

Questions & Answers about Siz inekleri elle sağıyordunuz.

Why does inekler have an -i at the end to make inekleri?
The -i is the specific direct object marker (the accusative case). It points out exactly what is receiving the action of the verb. Because it is inekleri, it translates to "the cows" instead of just "cows" in general.
How does elle mean "by hand"?
It comes from the word el (hand) combined with the word ile (with / by means of). When ile is attached directly to a word ending in a consonant, it drops its first vowel and becomes -le or -la. So, el plus -le becomes elle.
How do the suffixes on sağıyordunuz work to mean "you were milking"?
This uses the past continuous tense, which combines two time markers. sağ is the verb root (to milk), and the -ı- is a buffer vowel. -yor means the action is continuous (like the English "-ing"). -du makes it past tense ("were"). Finally, -nuz shows that the subject is siz (you, plural or formal).
Wait, doesn't sağ mean "right" or "alive"?
Yes! The word sağ is a homophone in Turkish. As an adjective, it means "right" (the direction) or "alive". But as a verb root (sağmak), it means "to milk". You can easily tell it is functioning as the verb here because it has tense and person suffixes attached to it.

Learn Siz inekleri elle sağıyordunuz and more in Turkish

All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.

  • ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
  • ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
  • ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free
Start learning Turkish →