Breakdown of Onun yatağı taş gibi sert.
o
that / he / she / it
yatak
bed
gibi
like (similar to)
taş
stone
sert
hard
Questions & Answers about Onun yatağı taş gibi sert.
Why doesn't taş have any suffix before gibi?
When using gibi (like) with regular nouns, the noun stays in its plain dictionary form. You only need to add genitive (possessive) endings before gibi when using personal pronouns (like benim gibi - like me). A regular noun like taş (stone) just sits right next to it.
Why is the word order taş gibi sert? In English, we say 'hard like a stone.'
In Turkish, descriptive phrases come before the word they describe. The phrase taş gibi (like a stone) describes exactly how hard the bed is. Therefore, it has to come right before the adjective sert (hard). Literally, the Turkish sentence order is 'stone-like hard'.
I know the word for bed is yatak. Why did the k change to ğ in yatağı?
This is a brief refresher on consonant mutation! Because the bed belongs to him (onun), we have to add the possessive suffix -ı to yatak. When a Turkish word ends in k and you add a suffix starting with a vowel, that k almost always softens into a ğ to make it flow better.
Is onun required here, or could I just say Yatağı taş gibi sert?
You can absolutely drop onun. The -ı on the end of yatağı already tells us it means 'his' (or hers/its). Including onun at the beginning just adds a little extra emphasis, as if you are specifically pointing out 'His bed is hard (compared to someone else's).'
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