Breakdown of Yeni yıl ocak ayında başlıyor.
yeni
new
başlamak
to begin, to start
yıl
year
ay
month
ocak
January
Questions & Answers about Yeni yıl ocak ayında başlıyor.
Why is the word ayında used here instead of just saying ocakta for 'in January'?
In Turkish, it is very common to say 'the month of January' (ocak ayı) instead of just 'January'. Ay means month, and the -ı connects it to ocak. To say 'in', we add the location suffix -da, but first we need the buffer letter -n-, resulting in ocak ayında.
Why is ocak written with a lowercase 'o'?
In Turkish, months and days are only capitalized if they include a specific number, like 1 Ocak (January 1st). When talking about the month in general without a specific date, it is written in lowercase.
Why does the verb başlıyor use the -ıyor (is happening right now) ending if this is a general fact?
While -ıyor is the present continuous tense (usually translating to English '-ing'), Turkish very frequently uses it for habits, routines, and general facts where English would use the simple present tense.
The dictionary form of 'to start' is başlamak. Why is it spelled başlıyor here instead of başlayor?
When a verb stem ends in the wide vowels a or e (like başla-), that vowel 'narrows' when the -ıyor suffix is added. Here, the a changes to ı, making it başlıyor.
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