Breakdown of Gergin bir gülüşü var ve elleri titriyor.
bir
a / an
var
there is / existent
ve
and
gülmek
to laugh
el
hand
gergin
tense / nervous
titremek
to tremble / to shake
Questions & Answers about Gergin bir gülüşü var ve elleri titriyor.
How is the word gülüşü formed from a verb to mean 'his smile'?
The root is the verb gülmek (to laugh or smile). We drop the -mek and add the 'manner of action' suffix -üş to get gülüş, which literally means 'a way of smiling' or just 'a smile.' Finally, we add the third-person possessive suffix -ü to make gülüşü (his smile).
Why do we use var to say 'he has' in this sentence?
Turkish doesn't use a direct verb for 'to have.' Instead, you use a possessive suffix on the item owned, followed by var (there is / exists). So gülüşü var literally translates to 'his smile exists,' which is the standard way to say 'he has a smile.'
The verb for 'to tremble' is titremek. Why does it become titriyor instead of titreyor?
This happens because of a rule called vowel narrowing. When a verb root ends in a wide vowel like -a or -e (like titre-), and you add the continuous suffix -yor, that final vowel shrinks to a narrow vowel (ı, i, u, or ü). Here, the e narrows to an i, giving us titriyor.
In elleri titriyor, does the -i on elleri mean 'the' hands or 'his' hands?
It means 'his' hands: el (hand) + -ler (plural) + -i (his). While the -i suffix is also used to mean 'the' (the accusative case for specific direct objects), subjects of a sentence never take that object suffix. Since the hands are the subject doing the trembling, the -i here must be the possessive suffix.
Learn Gergin bir gülüşü var ve elleri titriyor 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