Breakdown of Beşinci öğrenci ödül veya madalya almıyor.
öğrenci
student
beş
five
almak
to take, to buy
veya
or
Questions & Answers about Beşinci öğrenci ödül veya madalya almıyor.
How do we form beşinci (fifth) from beş (five)?
The suffix for ordinal numbers (first, second, third) is -(i)nci. Because beş ends in a consonant and has the vowel 'e', we follow 4-way vowel harmony and add -inci.
If the suffix is -(i)nci, why does the word for student (öğrenci) look like it has the same suffix?
That is just a coincidence! The word öğrenci comes from the verb root öğren- (learn) plus the person suffix -ci. It has nothing to do with the ordinal number suffix.
Why is the negative part of almıyor spelled with an 'ı' instead of 'a'?
The base verb is almak (to get or take). Normally, the negative suffix is -ma. However, the present continuous suffix -yor changes a preceding 'a' or 'e' into a narrow vowel ('ı', 'i', 'u', or 'ü'). So, alma-yor becomes almıyor.
When do we use veya for 'or', and when do we use yoksa?
We use veya in normal statements like this one (a prize or a medal). We use yoksa when asking a direct question that gives the listener a choice, like 'Is it a prize, or (yoksa) a medal?'.