Breakdown of Kocam pantolonunu ütülemedi ama radyoyu kendisi tamir etti.
radyo
radio
koca
husband
pantolon
trousers
ama
but
Questions & Answers about Kocam pantolonunu ütülemedi ama radyoyu kendisi tamir etti.
Why is it kendisi and not just kendi?
While kendi means "self", Turkish usually adds a possessive suffix to it to show exactly whose self we are talking about. Since the husband (a third person, "he") is doing the action, we add the 3rd person singular possessive suffix -si to get kendisi ("himself").
There are two -u suffixes at the end of pantolonunu. What is each one doing?
The root word is pantolon (trousers). The first -u is the possessive suffix, making it "his trousers" (pantolonu). The second -u is the accusative case suffix, which is required here because "his trousers" are the specific direct object of the verb ütülemedi (didn't iron). They are separated by the buffer letter -n-.
Why does radyoyu use a -y- buffer letter, but pantolonunu uses an -n- buffer?
Normally, when you attach a vowel suffix to a word that already ends in a vowel, you use the buffer -y-. That is exactly what happens with radyo-y-u. However, Turkish has a special rule for 3rd person possessive suffixes: if you add a case marker (like the accusative) after a 3rd person possessive suffix (like the first -u in pantolonu), you must use the buffer -n- instead.
Why is "repaired" written as two words ()?