Questions & Answers about Kız çanta taşıyor mu?
Why is the question particle mu instead of mı?
The question particle follows 4-way vowel harmony based on the word right before it. In the present continuous tense, the verb always ends in -yor. Because o is a rounded back vowel, the question particle that follows -yor will always be mu, regardless of the verb root!
Where is the word for "a" (bir) in this sentence?
In Turkish, you often don't need to use bir when talking about a general, indefinite object. Just saying çanta taşıyor mu? naturally translates to "Is she carrying a bag?" rather than one specific bag. If you wanted to emphasize a single bag, you could say Kız bir çanta taşıyor mu?.
What is the root of the verb taşıyor, and why doesn't it have an extra vowel before -yor?
The dictionary form is taşımak (to carry), so the stem is taşı-. Normally, you add a buffer vowel like ı, i, u, or ü before -yor if the stem ends in a consonant. But since taşı- already ends in the vowel ı, we just attach -yor directly to it, making taşıyor.
Can I put the question particle after çanta instead of at the end?
Yes, but it changes the focus of the question! The question particle asks about the word right before it. At the end (taşıyor mu?), it asks about the action: "Is she carrying a bag?". If you said Kız çanta mı taşıyor?, it focuses on the object: "Is it a bag that the girl is carrying (or something else)?". Notice that mu changes to mı to match the last vowel in çanta.
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