Questions & Answers about Depremden beri bina boş.
Why does deprem have the -den ending attached to it before beri?
The word beri (since) is a postposition that always forces the noun before it to take the ablative ("from") case. So you must add the -den or -dan ending. Depremden beri structurally means "from the earthquake since".
English uses "has been" for this sentence. Why doesn't the Turkish sentence have a past tense verb?
When a situation started in the past and is still true right now, Turkish just uses the present tense! Because of the time phrase -den beri (since), the "has been" meaning is already built in. You are literally saying, "Since the earthquake, the building is empty."
Can I change the word order and say Bina depremden beri boş?
Yes, absolutely! Turkish word order is flexible. Putting depremden beri at the very beginning just puts a little more emphasis on the time the event started. Both versions are completely natural.
Why is the ending exactly -den and not -dan or -ten?
This is a quick refresher on two rules: vowel harmony and consonant mutation. The last vowel in deprem is "e", so it takes the front-vowel version (-den). Because "m" is a soft (voiced) consonant, the "d" does not change to a hard "t".
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