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Questions & Answers about Dün hanginiz yenildi?
How exactly does hanginiz mean "which of you"?
The base word hangi means "which". To say "which of...", Turkish attaches possessive suffixes. Here, we add the "your" plural/formal suffix -niz. So, hanginiz literally translates to something like "your which", meaning "which one of you".
If hanginiz refers to "you", why doesn't the verb have a "you" ending like yenildiniz?
Even though it refers to a group of people, the core subject is "which one". Just like in English where we say "which of you was defeated" (using the singular "was"), Turkish treats hanginiz as a third-person singular subject. Therefore, the verb takes the standard third-person past tense form yenildi.
What is the root of the verb yenildi?
The root verb is yenmek, which means "to beat" or "to defeat" (like in a game). The -il- part in the middle is the passive suffix, turning it into yenilmek ("to be beaten" or "to be defeated"). The final -di makes it past tense.