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Questions & Answers about Saat kaçta sohbet ediyorlar?
Why do we say kaçta instead of just kaç?
The word kaç means "how many". When we want to ask "what time is it?", we simply say saat kaç. However, this sentence asks "at what time" a specific action happens. To do this, we add the "at/in/on" suffix -ta to the question word, making it kaçta.
Why are there two words (sohbet ediyorlar) to say "chat"?
Turkish frequently creates verbs by combining a noun with a helper verb. In this sentence, sohbet is a noun meaning "chat" or "conversation", and etmek is a helper verb that means "to do". Put together, sohbet etmek means "to chat" (literally: to do a chat).
Where is the word for "they" in this sentence?
The Turkish word for "they" is onlar, but it is usually left out. We already know the subject is "they" because of the -lar suffix attached to the very end of the verb ediyorlar.
The verb has the -iyor ending for "-ing". Why does the English translation say "do they chat" instead of "are they chatting"?
While the -iyor suffix forms the present continuous tense (just like the English "-ing"), Turkish uses this tense much more broadly than English does. It is very common to use the -iyor tense to ask about general habits and routines, which we naturally translate into the English simple present tense.