Questions & Answers about Kafam çok ağrıyor.
This lesson is about the duration suffix -DIr. How can I say "My head has been hurting for two hours" using this sentence?
You add the time phrase with -tır or -dir. For example: Kafam iki saattir çok ağrıyor. Notice that Turkish uses the present continuous tense (-ıyor) along with -DIr to show an action started in the past and is still happening, whereas English uses the present perfect continuous ("has been hurting").
Is baş another word for head? Can I say başım ağrıyor instead?
Yes! Baş and kafa both mean "head". In fact, başım ağrıyor is the most common way to say "I have a headache" in Turkish. Kafam ağrıyor means the exact same thing but can sound slightly more casual.
What is the root of the verb ağrıyor and how does the tense suffix attach to it?
The verb root is ağrı- (to ache or hurt). To form the present continuous tense, we use the suffix -yor. Because ağrı- already ends in the vowel ı, the suffix attaches directly to make ağrıyor without needing an extra connecting vowel.
Why is it just kafam and not benim kafam?
The -m suffix at the end of kafam (from kafa + -m) already means "my". You only need to say benim kafam if you want to emphasize that it is your head that hurts, not someone else's.
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