Question 1

Why doesn't the first verb have the past question ending (yiyor muydu)?

Accepted Answer

When you connect multiple actions using a conjunction like hem ... hem (both ... and), you usually only put the past tense and question endings on the very last verb. The muydu at the end of the sentence applies to both yiyor (eating) and izliyor (watching).

Question 2

How does the hem ... hem structure work?

Accepted Answer

Hem [A] hem [B] is a common Turkish pattern that translates to "both [A] and [B]." You can use it to link nouns, adjectives, or, like in this sentence, two continuous actions.

Question 3

Why is there an -i at the end of korku filmi?

Accepted Answer

This is a noun compound. When you put two nouns together to create a specific category—like korku (horror/fear) and film (movie)—the second noun must take a possessive ending. Because film ends in a consonant, it takes the vowel -i, becoming korku filmi.

Question 4

Does mısır just mean "corn" or does it mean "popcorn" here?

Accepted Answer

The literal translation of mısır is "corn." The full term for popcorn is patlamış mısır (literally "popped corn"), but in everyday situations like eating it at a movie, Turkish speakers often just shorten it to mısır.

Question 5

Let's review the current lesson: how is the muydu part formed?

Accepted Answer

This sentence uses the past continuous question form ("was he doing?"). We take the present continuous verb izliyor, add the question particle mu (it takes an u to harmonize with the o in -yor), insert a buffer letter y, and finally add the past tense suffix -du. This gives us izliyor muydu? (was he watching?).

Hem mısır yiyor hem korku filmi izliyor muydu?

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