Breakdown of O kırmızı tuşa basıyordu ve kamera kaydediyordu.
o
that / he / she / it
ve
and
kırmızı
red
tuş
key (button)
basmak
to press
kamera
camera
kaydetmek
to record
Questions & Answers about O kırmızı tuşa basıyordu ve kamera kaydediyordu.
How is basıyordu formed to mean "was pressing"?
It combines the present continuous suffix -ıyor with the past tense suffix -du. The verb root bas- (press) + -ıyor (is ...-ing) + -du (was) becomes basıyordu (was pressing). This combination is how we form the past continuous tense in Turkish.
Why is it tuşa instead of just tuş or tuşu?
The verb basmak (to press) requires its object to take the dative case (the "to" direction), which is shown by adding an -a or -e ending. In Turkish, you literally press to a button. That is why tuş (button) becomes tuşa.
The word for record is "kayıt", so why does it look so different in kaydediyordu?
The verb kaydediyordu is a compound verb made from kayıt (record) and the helper verb etmek (to do/make). Two sound changes happen here: first, the "ı" in kayıt drops out (vowel omission), making it kayd-. Second, the "t" in etmek changes to a "d" (consonant mutation) because it is followed by the vowel in the -iyor suffix. Add the past suffix -du and you get kaydediyordu (was recording).
Could this sentence also mean "She was pressing the red button"?
Yes! The Turkish pronoun O translates to "He", "She", or "It". Without any extra context, O kırmızı tuşa basıyordu can perfectly well mean she (or it) was pressing the red button.
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