Breakdown of Maç ne zaman başlıyor?
ne
what
zaman
time
başlamak
to begin, to start
maç
match / game (sports)
Questions & Answers about Maç ne zaman başlıyor?
Literally, what does ne zaman translate to?
It literally translates to "what time." The word ne means "what" and zaman means "time." Together, this is the standard way to ask "when" in Turkish.
Why is the present continuous verb başlıyor (is starting) used if the match hasn't started yet?
Just like in English, Turkish often uses the present continuous tense (with the -yor suffix) to talk about scheduled events in the future. Asking "When is the match starting?" or "When does the match start?" both translate perfectly to using başlıyor.
The dictionary form of "to start" is başlamak. Why is it spelled başlıyor and not "başlayor"?
This happens because of a special rule for the -yor suffix. If a verb root ends in the wide vowels a or e (like the root başla-), that vowel gets squeezed or "narrowed" into ı, i, u, or ü. Following vowel harmony rules, the a turns into an ı, giving us başlıyor.
Could I change the word order and ask Ne zaman maç başlıyor?
You could, and people would understand you, but the word order shown here is much more natural. In Turkish, question words usually go immediately before the verb. Since maç (the match) is the subject, it normally goes at the very beginning of the sentence.