Breakdown of Köpek çok zayıf. Onu her hafta tartar mısın?
o
that / he / she / it
köpek
dog
çok
very
zayıf
weak, thin
her
every
hafta
week
mi
question particle (mı/mi/mu/mü)
tartmak
to weigh
Questions & Answers about Köpek çok zayıf. Onu her hafta tartar mısın?
Why is tartar mısın translated as 'will you weigh' instead of using the future tense?
In Turkish, asking someone to do something (a polite request) is typically done using the aorist (simple present) tense. By combining the aorist form tartar with the 2nd person question particle mısın, you create a polite 'Will you...' or 'Would you...' request.
How is the word tartar built from the verb root?
It comes from the verb tartmak (to weigh). When you drop the -mak, you get the root tart-. Because it is a single-syllable root, we add the aorist suffix -ar (following vowel harmony) to make tartar.
Why do we use onu instead of just o for 'it'?
O means 'he', 'she', or 'it'. Here, the dog is the specific direct object receiving the action—it is the thing being weighed. To show this, we use the accusative case. We take o, add the buffer letter -n-, and then the accusative suffix -u, resulting in onu.
Doesn't zayıf usually mean 'weak'?
Yes, it can mean 'weak', but when describing a person's or animal's body size, zayıf means 'thin' or 'skinny'. You have to rely on the context of the sentence to know if someone is talking about physical strength or body weight.
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