Breakdown of Kardeşin amcanla satranç oynuyor muydu?
oynamak
to play
kardeş
sibling
ile
with / by / and (linking nouns)
mi
question particle (mı/mi/mu/mü)
Questions & Answers about Kardeşin amcanla satranç oynuyor muydu?
How is oynuyor muydu put together to mean "was playing"?
This uses the past continuous question form you're learning. It combines the continuous suffix -yor (is playing) with the question particle mu and the past tense -du. The -y- in the middle is just a buffer letter to separate the two vowels. So, oynuyor (is playing) + mu (question) + y (buffer) + du (past) = was playing?
The verb for "to play" is oynamak, so why is it oynuyor instead of oynayor?
When a verb root ends in a or e (like oyna-), adding the -yor suffix causes that final vowel to narrow. Because of vowel harmony rules, the a changes to u. So, oyna- becomes oynu- before -yor.
How does amcanla break down into "with your uncle"?
It comes from the word amca (uncle). First, we add the possessive suffix -n to make amcan (your uncle). Then, we add the suffix -la (with), which is the shortened attached version of the word ile. Put together, it makes amcanla (with your uncle).
Why doesn't satranç (chess) have an accusative suffix here?