Breakdown of Eski arkadaşlar orada görüşüyordu.
arkadaş
friend
orada
over there
eski
old
görüşmek
to meet / to see each other (converse, talk)
Questions & Answers about Eski arkadaşlar orada görüşüyordu.
How does the verb görüşüyordu break down, and what does the -üş- do?
The root is görmek (to see). The -üş- is the reciprocal suffix we are focusing on in this lesson, which means doing an action with or to each other. So, görüşmek literally means "to see each other," which is how you say "to meet" or "to converse" in Turkish.
Why does the verb end with two tense suffixes, -üyor- and -du?
This creates the past continuous tense, matching the English "were meeting." The -üyor- part shows the action is ongoing (continuous), and the -du part shifts that ongoing action into the past.
Why use eski for "old" instead of yaşlı?
Eski means "old" in the sense of time, history, or being former (like a long-time friendship, an old car, or an ex-boyfriend). Yaşlı specifically means "elderly" or "aged" for living things. These are long-time friends, not necessarily elderly people.
Since the subject is plural (arkadaşlar), why isn't the verb pluralized as görüşüyordular?
In Turkish, when a human subject is explicitly mentioned in the sentence and already has a plural suffix (like arkadaşlar), you don't have to add the plural suffix to the verb. Leaving it as görüşüyordu is completely correct and sounds very natural.