Questions & Answers about Doktor onun gözüne bakıyor.
Why is there an -n- in the middle of gözüne?
The root word is göz (eye), and the 3rd person possessive suffix is -ü (making gözü, his eye). To say "into his eye", we add the dative case suffix -e. When we add a case suffix (like -e, -i, -de, or -den) right after a 3rd person possessive suffix, Turkish requires the buffer letter -n- between them. So it becomes gözü + n + -e = gözüne.
Why does gözüne end with the -e suffix instead of the direct object suffix?
In English, you look at something. In Turkish, the verb bakmak (to look) always takes the dative case, which means it requires the "to" or "towards" suffix (-a or -e). So literally, the doctor is looking "to his eye".
If onun already means "his", why do we still need the -ü suffix on göz?
In Turkish, possession requires an ending on the owned object itself, even if you use a possessive pronoun like onun. The pronoun onun is optional and emphasizes whose eye it is, but the possessed word still must have the matching 3rd person suffix (-ü) to be grammatically correct.
Why is the connecting vowel in bakıyor an ı?
The present continuous suffix -yor requires a connecting vowel if the verb root ends in a consonant. According to the 4-way vowel harmony rules, roots with an a or ı in their final syllable take ı. Since the root bak- has an a, the connecting vowel becomes ı, giving us bakıyor.
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