Çocuğun sesi çok güzel.

Questions & Answers about Çocuğun sesi çok güzel.

Why is there a ğ in çocuğun? The dictionary word for child is çocuk.
When a Turkish word ends in k and gets a suffix starting with a vowel, the k usually softens into a ğ (soft g). Here, we are adding the genitive (owner) suffix -un to çocuk to make it mean "the child's". Because -un starts with a vowel, çocuk + -un becomes çocuğun.
What does the -i at the end of sesi do?
It is the possessive suffix meaning "his/her/its". In Turkish, to make a definite noun compound (like "the child's voice"), you don't just mark the owner. You also have to mark the thing being owned. So ses (voice) takes the -i suffix to complete the pair, giving us çocuğun sesi.
Could I just say çocuk sesi instead of çocuğun sesi?
You could, but it would change the meaning! Çocuğun sesi uses the owner suffix on the first word to show we mean a specific child's voice. If you say çocuk sesi (without the owner suffix on the first word), it becomes a general category meaning "a child's voice" in general, rather than the voice of the specific child you are looking at.
Where is the word for "is" in this sentence?
There isn't one! In Turkish, you often don't need a verb to say that something "is" a certain way in the present tense. Just placing the subject (çocuğun sesi) and the adjective (çok güzel) next to each other is perfectly complete: "The child's voice [is] very beautiful."

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