Learn Turkish: Kirayı ne zaman ödemeleri lazım? - When do they need to pay the rent?

To express 'need to' in Turkish, we use the verbal noun suffix -me or -ma, add a possessive ending to show who needs to do the action, and follow it with lazım (necessary). Here, öde (pay) + -me (verbal noun) + -leri (their) makes ödemeleri (their paying). With lazım, it literally means 'their paying is necessary'.

Why is it kirayı instead of just kira?

Because 'the rent' is a specific direct object in this sentence. We take the word kira (rent) and add the accusative case suffix -ı. Since kira ends in a vowel, we need the buffer letter y between them, making it kirayı.

Could ödemeleri also mean 'his/her paying them'?

Yes! The suffix -leri can either be the 3rd person plural possessive ('their') or the plural suffix -ler plus the 3rd person singular possessive -i ('his/her ...s'). Without extra context, ödemeleri lazım could technically mean 'he/she needs to pay them'. However, 'they need to pay' is the most natural translation here.

Why is ne zaman (when) placed in the middle of the sentence?