Breakdown of O lastiği tamir edemedi, problem büyüktü.
o
that / he / she / it
büyük
big
problem
problem
tamir etmek
to repair
lastik
tire
Questions & Answers about O lastiği tamir edemedi, problem büyüktü.
How do we get "could not" out of edemedi?
This is the core of your current lesson! The verb is tamir etmek (to repair). The root et changes to ed when we add a vowel. First we add -e for inability (could not), then -me for the negative, and finally -di for the past tense. Together: ed-e-me-di.
Why is the word for tire spelled lastiği with a ğ here?
The dictionary form of the word is lastik (tire). Because he couldn't repair the specific tire, it needs the accusative case suffix -i. When a word ends in k and you add a vowel, the k softens into a ğ (soft g), making it lastiği.
Could O lastiği also translate to "that tire"?
Yes, it could! In Turkish, o can mean 'he/she/it' or 'that'. Without a comma after O, the sentence could translate to 'He could not repair the tire' (where o is the subject) or '(Someone) could not repair that tire' (where o points to the tire). We rely on the context of the conversation to know which is meant.
Why does the past tense on büyük (big) use a t (büyüktü) instead of a d?
This is due to consonant harmony. The word büyük ends in the voiceless consonant k. When adding a suffix that starts with d (like the past tense -di), it must change to its voiceless partner. So the d becomes a t, and vowel harmony turns the i into ü, giving us büyüktü (was big).
Learn O lastiği tamir edemedi, problem büyüktü and more in Turkish
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free