Questions & Answers about Büyük ev sıcak mı?
Why does the question particle use an 'ı' instead of an 'i' here?
The question particle changes its vowel to match the last vowel of the word right before it. This is called 4-way vowel harmony. The last vowel in sıcak is a. Because a is a back vowel, the particle must use the matching back vowel ı, making it mı.
If mı follows vowel harmony like an ending, why is it written as a separate word?
That is a special rule for the yes/no question particle! Even though it behaves like a suffix by looking at the previous word (sıcak) to decide its vowel, it is always written with a space before it.
Where is the word for 'is' in this sentence?
Turkish doesn't have a direct translation for the verb 'to be' (am/is/are) in the present tense. You just place the subject (Büyük ev, meaning 'The big house') next to the descriptive word (sıcak, meaning 'hot'). Adding mı at the end turns that simple statement into the question 'Is the big house hot?'.
How do we know it means 'Is the big house hot?' and not 'Is the hot house big?'?
Word order! In Turkish, an adjective that describes a noun comes right before it, just like in English. So Büyük ev creates the unit 'The big house'. The word placed right before the question particle is the main focus of the question. Since sıcak is right before mı, we are asking if it is hot. To ask 'Is the hot house big?', you would change the order and ask Sıcak ev büyük mü?.
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