Breakdown of Onlar on saattir sabırlı ama sen hemen pes ediyorsun.
sen
you
onlar
they
on
ten
saat
hour / o'clock
ama
but
hemen
immediately / right away
sabırlı
patient
pes etmek
to give up (surrender, admit defeat)
Questions & Answers about Onlar on saattir sabırlı ama sen hemen pes ediyorsun.
How does the -tir suffix work in on saattir?
The suffix -DIr translates to 'for' when talking about a duration of time. Here, on saat means 'ten hours', so adding the suffix creates 'for ten hours'. It shows that an action or state started in the past and is still continuing.
Why is the suffix -tir instead of -tır? Doesn't the 'a' in saat mean it should take an 'ı'?
Normally, yes! However, the word saat is a famous exception to vowel harmony because it is borrowed from Arabic. It always takes front-vowel suffixes (like e or i). Also, because saat ends in the hard consonant 't', the 'd' in the -DIr suffix changes to a hard 't'. That is why it becomes saattir.
The English translation says 'They have been patient', but I only see the word sabırlı. Where is the verb?
In Turkish, you don't always need a verb for 'to be'. The word sabırlı simply means 'patient'. Because we already know the subject is Onlar (They) and the time duration is on saattir, just saying sabırlı is enough to mean 'They have been patient'.
What is the infinitive form of pes ediyorsun?
It comes from pes etmek, which means 'to give up'. This is a compound verb made of the word pes and the helper verb etmek (to do). When adding the present continuous suffix -iyor, the 't' in et softens to a 'd', making it ediyor, and then we add the 'you' ending -sun.
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