Breakdown of Onu delice sevdi ama söyleyemedi.
o
that / he / she / it
söylemek
to say, to sing
sevmek
to love, to like
ama
but
deli
crazy
Questions & Answers about Onu delice sevdi ama söyleyemedi.
How does the -ce suffix change the meaning of deli in delice?
Why is the word Onu used instead of just O?
Onu is the pronoun o (he/she/it) plus the accusative case suffix -nu. Because the person is the specific target receiving the action of the verb sevdi (loved), Turkish requires this suffix to mark them as the direct object.
What is the difference between söylemedi and söyleyemedi?
Söylemedi simply means he didn't say. The word in this sentence, söyleyemedi, has an extra -e- (with a buffer -y- to separate vowels) right after the verb root söyle. This is the negative ability marker, changing the meaning from 'didn't say' to 'couldn't say'.
The English translation says 'He', but where is that in the Turkish sentence?
The past tense verbs sevdi (loved) and söyleyemedi (couldn't say) both end in -di without any extra personal suffixes attached. In Turkish, a verb with just the tense suffix automatically means he, she, or it did the action. The pronoun o (he) is dropped because the verb ending makes it clear enough.
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