Breakdown of Bu geleneğe göre herkes sarı gömlek giyiyor.
bu
this
giymek
to wear / to put on
gömlek
shirt
sarı
yellow
herkes
everyone
göre
according to / compared to
gelenek
tradition
Questions & Answers about Bu geleneğe göre herkes sarı gömlek giyiyor.
Why does the word gelenek (tradition) change to geleneğe before göre?
The postposition göre (according to) always requires the word attached to it to take the dative case ending (meaning "to" or "for"). When we add the dative suffix -e to gelenek, the hard k at the end of the word softens into a ğ. This is a standard consonant mutation, giving us geleneğe göre.
If "everyone" is wearing a shirt, shouldn't the word for shirt be plural (gömlekler)?
In Turkish, when a group of people each have or use one of an item, the item usually stays singular. If you said herkes sarı gömlekler giyiyor, it would literally sound like every single person is wearing multiple yellow shirts at the same time!
Why doesn't gömlek have an accusative case ending since it's the direct object being worn?
You only use the accusative case ending when the direct object is specific (like "the shirt" or "my shirt"). Because the sentence is talking about "a yellow shirt" in a general, non-specific way, gömlek stays in its plain dictionary form.
Why use the present continuous tense (giyiyor) instead of the simple present/aorist tense if this is a regular tradition?
While English uses the simple present ("wears") for habits and traditions, Turkish very commonly uses the present continuous tense (-iyor) to describe them. Even though giyiyor literally translates to "is wearing", it is perfectly natural in Turkish to use it for things people regularly do.
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