Breakdown of Evi yenileyene kadar ya mobilyaları değiştirin ya da duvar kâğıdını temizleyin.
ev
house
temizlemek
to clean
kadar
as ... as; until, up to
değiştirmek
to change
ya... ya da
either... or
duvar kâğıdı
wallpaper
mobilya
furniture
yenilemek
to renew / to renovate
Questions & Answers about Evi yenileyene kadar ya mobilyaları değiştirin ya da duvar kâğıdını temizleyin.
How does the ya... ya da... structure work here?
It translates to "either... or...". In this sentence, it gives two options for an action: ya mobilyaları değiştirin (either change the furniture) ya da duvar kâğıdını temizleyin (or clean the wallpaper). The word da is optional but often added to the second part for better flow and emphasis.
What makes the phrase yenileyene kadar mean "until you renovate"?
To say "until doing something", Turkish adds -(y)ana kadar or -(y)ene kadar to a verb. Here, we start with the verb yenile (to renovate), add the buffer y, and then -ene kadar because of vowel harmony.
Why does duvar kâğıdını end with -ını?
The word for wallpaper in Turkish is a noun compound: duvar kâğıdı (literally "wall its-paper"). Because the wallpaper is the specific thing you need to clean (the direct object), it needs the accusative case suffix. We add the buffer letter n and the accusative ı, giving us duvar kâğıdını.
Why is kâğıdını spelled with a "d" when the word for paper is kâğıt?
This happens because of consonant mutation. When the word kâğıt gets a suffix starting with a vowel (like the compound noun suffix -ı), the hard "t" at the end softens to a "d".
Why do the verbs değiştirin and temizleyin both end in -in?
These are imperative (command) verbs. The -in suffix makes it a formal or plural command. The speaker is politely telling someone, or addressing a group of people, to do these things.
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