Breakdown of Uzay gemisi yıldıza ulaştı ama robotlar uyuyacak.
uyumak
to sleep
ama
but
ulaşmak
to arrive / to reach (a level/speed)
uzay
space
Questions & Answers about Uzay gemisi yıldıza ulaştı ama robotlar uyuyacak.
Why is there a 'y' in the middle of uyuyacak?
The verb root is uyu- (to sleep), which ends in a vowel. The future tense suffix here is -acak. In Turkish, when a suffix starting with a vowel attaches to a word ending in a vowel, we must use the buffer letter y to keep them apart. So, it becomes uyu + y + acak.
Why does 'space ship' translate to uzay gemisi instead of just uzay gemi?
When you combine two nouns to create a new concept in Turkish (a noun compound), the second noun must take a possessive suffix. Since gemi (ship) ends in a vowel, it takes the buffer s followed by the vowel i, giving us uzay gemisi.
Why is the word for star (yıldız) written as yıldıza here?
The verb ulaşmak (to reach) requires the destination to take the dative case, which means 'to' or 'towards'. In Turkish, you reach 'to' a place, so we add the suffix -a to get yıldıza.
Why is the past tense ending on ulaştı spelled with a 't' instead of a 'd'?