Questions & Answers about Saat dokuzu beş geçe geliyorum.
Why is there a -u at the end of dokuzu?
When telling time using 'past' (like 'five past nine'), Turkish puts the hour in the accusative (specific object) case. So dokuz (nine) gets the -u ending to become dokuzu. The formula for saying 'at X past Y' is: Saat + [Hour in accusative case] + [Minutes] + geçe.
What exactly does geçe mean here?
Geçe comes from the verb geçmek (to pass). In this time-telling formula, it means 'passing'. So, saat dokuzu beş geçe has the literal feeling of 'passing nine by five'.
How would I say 'It is five past nine' instead of 'at five past nine'?
To state what the time is right now, you use the continuous verb geçiyor instead of geçe. You would say Saat dokuzu beş geçiyor (It is five past nine). You only use geçe when you want to describe an action happening 'at [minutes] past [hour]'.
Why isn't there a word for 'at' like -da or -de in this sentence?
When you learned exact hours, you used the locative case for 'at' (like saat dokuzda for 'at nine o'clock'). However, when you use the geçe formula for 'minutes past', the 'at' meaning is already built in. You never add -da or -de to a geçe phrase.
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