Questions & Answers about Güneş saat kaçta doğdu?
Why is the past tense suffix -du here instead of -di?
The suffix for the past tense changes based on vowel harmony. The verb root is doğ-. Since its vowel is o, the 4-way vowel harmony rule changes the suffix from -di to -du. (Remember: words with o or u take -du).
Doesn't doğdu usually mean "was born"?
Yes! The verb doğmak means "to be born," but it is also the exact verb Turks use for the sun, moon, and stars rising. So Güneş doğdu literally translates to "the sun was born," meaning "the sun rose."
Why does the sentence use "saat kaçta" instead of just "saat kaç"?
Saat kaç? simply means "What time is it?" To ask at what time a specific event happens, you must add the locative case suffix -ta (meaning in/at/on). So, saat kaçta means "at what time."
Could I change the word order and say "Saat kaçta güneş doğdu?"
Yes, that is grammatically correct and people would understand you. However, Turkish generally places the question word or the most important information right before the verb. Because we specifically want to know the time, saat kaçta naturally sits right next to the verb doğdu.