Breakdown of Üniversiteden beri burada yaşıyoruz.
burada
here
yaşamak
to live / to experience / to undergo
beri
since
üniversite
university
Questions & Answers about Üniversiteden beri burada yaşıyoruz.
Why do we add -den to üniversite when using beri?
The word beri (since) always requires the noun before it to take the ablative case (the 'from' ending, -den or -dan). To say 'since university', Turkish literally phrases it as 'from university since', which becomes üniversiteden beri.
The English translation says 'have been living'. Why is the Turkish verb yaşıyoruz in the present continuous tense?
In Turkish, if an action started in the past and is still happening right now, you use the present continuous tense (-iyor). Because you are still living there today, Turkish simply says 'We are living here since university'. English requires a special tense for this ('have been living'), but Turkish keeps it in the present!
The dictionary form for 'to live' is yaşamak. Why does it change to yaşıyoruz instead of yaşayoruz?
When a verb root ends in a wide vowel like a or e (like yaşa-), adding the -yor suffix causes that final vowel to 'narrow' into ı, i, u, or ü. Here, the final a drops and becomes an ı for vowel harmony, resulting in yaşıyoruz.
Could I just say bura instead of burada for 'here'?
No, you need the locative ending -da ('in' or 'at') to show exactly where the living is happening. Bura just means 'this place' as a noun, while burada means 'in this place' or 'here'.
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