Question 1

How is the word birinci formed?

Accepted Answer

bir means "one". To make it "first", we add the ordinal suffix -(I)ncI. Since bir ends in a consonant and its vowel is "i", 4-way vowel harmony makes the suffix -inci, giving us birinci.

Question 2

Does birinci kat mean the ground floor or the floor above it?

Accepted Answer

In Turkey, buildings are numbered like they are in Europe, which might surprise American learners. The street level is the zemin kat (ground floor). The birinci kat (first floor) is one flight of stairs up. So, this office is on the floor above the street!

Question 3

Why use both bizim and the -imiz ending on ofisimiz? Isn't that saying "our" twice?

Accepted Answer

Yes, ofisimiz alone already means "our office". Adding the pronoun bizim isn't strictly necessary, but it is often used for emphasis. Here, it sounds like the speaker is making a contrast: "Our office is on the first floor (but maybe someone else's is on the ground floor)."

Question 4

Why is the locative suffix (on/at) spelled -ta in katta instead of -da?

Accepted Answer

This is a good reminder of consonant harmony (often called the "Fıstıkçı Şahap" rule). Because the word kat (floor) ends in a hard, voiceless consonant (t), the suffix must also start with a hard consonant. So, the normal -da ending changes to -ta.

Question 5

Why do we use değil to say "not" here?

Accepted Answer

We use değil ("is not") to negate nouns, adjectives, and locations. Here, it simply negates the location phrase zemin katta (on the ground floor). If we were negating an action verb, we would use the -me/-ma suffix on the verb, and if we were saying something doesn't exist, we would use yok.

Bizim ofisimiz zemin katta değil, birinci katta.

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