Questions & Answers about Bizim dairemiz beşinci katta.
How is the word for "fifth" formed in this sentence?
The number five is beş. To make ordinal numbers (first, second, third, etc.), Turkish uses the suffix -(I)ncI. Since beş ends in a consonant and has the vowel "e", 4-way vowel harmony turns the suffix into -inci, making beşinci.
Why is there an -miz at the end of dairemiz if we already said bizim (our)?
In Turkish, possessives work like a matching set. You use the possessive pronoun bizim (our) along with a matching possessive suffix on the noun itself. Since daire (apartment) ends in a vowel, we just add -miz to mean "our apartment". You can actually drop the word bizim in everyday speech, but you must always keep the suffix -miz!
Why does "on the floor" translate to katta instead of katda?
The word for a floor or story of a building is kat, which ends in the hard consonant "t". The suffix for "in/on/at" is normally -da or -de. However, Turkish consonant harmony rules require the "d" to change to a "t" when it follows a hard consonant. Therefore, kat + -da becomes katta.
Can I use kat to talk about the floor I am sweeping in my kitchen?