Breakdown of Biz o evde kömür sobası ile ısınmıyorduk.
o
that / he / she / it
ev
house
biz
we
ile
with / by / and (linking nouns)
ısınmak
to warm up
soba
stove
kömür
coal
Questions & Answers about Biz o evde kömür sobası ile ısınmıyorduk.
How do we break down the negative past continuous in ısınmıyorduk?
It comes from the verb ısınmak (to get warm). First, we take the root ısın-. Then we add the negative suffix. Normally this is -ma, but the -yor suffix always narrows the vowel before it, changing it to -mı. Next is the continuous marker -yor, followed by the past tense -du, and finally the personal ending for we, which is -k. So we get: ısın + mı + yor + du + k.
Why is it sobası instead of just soba (stove)?
Kömür sobası is a noun compound. In Turkish, when two nouns are put together to make a single concept (like 'coal stove' or 'apple juice'), the second noun gets a possessive ending. Since soba ends in a vowel, it takes -sı, making it kömür sobası.
Could I attach the word ile (with) directly to the word before it?
Yes, you will very often see ile attached as a suffix. Because sobası ends in a vowel, you add a buffer -y- and then -la (due to vowel harmony). So you could write this as kömür sobasıyla. Both versions are correct and mean exactly the same thing.
Why use ısınmak here instead of ısıtmak (to heat)?
Isıtmak means to heat something else up, like heating soup or a room. Isınmak has an -n- in it, which makes the action about the subject themselves. It means 'to warm oneself up' or 'to get warm'. Here, they are saying they themselves weren't getting warm using that stove.
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