Questions & Answers about Haziran, temmuz ve ağustos yaz aylarıdır.
Why are temmuz and ağustos written with lowercase letters?
In Turkish, months of the year are only capitalized if they are part of a specific, numbered date (like 15 Temmuz) or if they are the first word of a sentence, like Haziran is here. When just listing them generally, they are written in lowercase.
Why is there an extra -ı- in aylarıdır? Why not just yaz aylardır?
This is because yaz ayları (summer months) is a noun compound. When you put two nouns together to make a new concept in Turkish, the second noun usually gets a possessive suffix. Here, ay (month) gets the plural -lar, followed by the possessive -ı to link it to yaz (summer).
What does the -dır suffix at the end of aylarıdır do?
The -dır suffix acts like the verb 'is' or 'are' in English. It is often used when stating a general fact, definition, or absolute truth. Since we are stating the factual definition of the summer months, -dır is the perfect ending.
Why is the plural suffix -lar and not -ler in aylarıdır?
This is a great example of vowel harmony, which you have seen in earlier lessons. The word ay (month) has the back vowel 'a', so the suffixes that follow it must also use back vowels. That gives us the plural -lar instead of -ler, and the possessive -ı instead of -i.