Questions & Answers about Kediye çok kötü davranıyorlar.
Why does 'kedi' have the '-ye' ending here?
The verb davranmak (to behave or treat) requires the dative case for whoever is receiving the action. In English we say 'they treat the cat', but Turkish thinks of it as 'they behave towards the cat'. So we add the dative suffix -e to kedi.
Why is there a 'y' in kediye?
Kedi ends in a vowel, and the dative suffix is also a vowel (-e). Turkish uses the buffer letter y to separate two vowels, so we get kedi + y + e.
If kötü means 'bad', how do we know it means 'badly' in this sentence?
Can davranıyorlar mean 'they are treating' as well as 'they are behaving'?
Yes! Davranmak means both 'to behave' and 'to treat'. When used with a dative object like kediye, it is often best translated into English as treating someone or something a certain way.
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