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Questions & Answers about Öğrenci metroya biniyor.
Why does the sentence use metroya (to the subway) instead of saying "on the subway"?
In English, you get "on" or "in" a vehicle, but in Turkish, the verb binmek (to board / to get on) requires the directional suffix -(y)a or -(y)e (to/towards). The logic is that you are moving towards the vehicle to board it. Because of this, it answers the directional question word nereye (where to).
What is the letter -y- doing in metroya?
The word metro ends in a vowel, and the directional suffix we need to add is also a vowel (-a). Turkish generally does not like two vowels right next to each other, so we insert the buffer letter -y- between them to make the word flow smoothly.
Why is the connecting vowel -i- used in biniyor?
The root of the verb is bin- (to get on). When adding the present continuous suffix -yor (meaning "-ing"), we need a connecting vowel. According to the 4-way vowel harmony rules, because the vowel in bin is i, the matching connecting vowel is also i, creating biniyor.
If I want to ask "Where is the student getting on?", how would I ask that using this lesson's question words?