Breakdown of O önce numarayı çeviriyordu, sonra tuşa basıyordu.
o
that / he / she / it
sonra
later
numara
number
önce
before / first / firstly
tuş
key (button)
basmak
to press
çevirmek
to dial
Questions & Answers about O önce numarayı çeviriyordu, sonra tuşa basıyordu.
How is the past continuous tense formed in çeviriyordu and basıyordu?
Both words combine the present continuous suffix -ıyor or -iyor (meaning 'is doing') with the past tense suffix -du (meaning 'was'). So, çeviriyor (is dialing) becomes çeviriyordu (was dialing), and basıyor (is pressing) becomes basıyordu (was pressing).
Why do we use the past continuous tense here instead of the simple past (çevirdi, bastı)?
The past continuous shows that these actions were ongoing or repeated in the past, rather than just single, completed events. It translates well to 'was dialing' and 'was pressing' in English, painting a picture of an action in progress.
Why does numara have the -yı ending but tuş has the -a ending?
This is because of the verbs they go with! The verb çevirmek (to dial or turn) takes a direct object, so numara gets the accusative case ending -yı. However, the verb basmak (to press) requires the dative case in Turkish because you are applying pressure to or onto something. Therefore, tuş (button or key) gets the dative ending -a.
I have seen çevirmek used to mean 'to turn' or 'to translate'. Why does it mean 'dialing' here?
In the context of phones, numara çevirmek literally means 'to turn the number'. This comes from old rotary telephones where you had to physically turn a dial to call someone, and the phrase stuck even with modern keypads!
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