Breakdown of Yolun bu tarafında duruyoruz.
bu
this
durmak
to stop, to stand
yol
road
taraf
side (party or direction)
Questions & Answers about Yolun bu tarafında duruyoruz.
Why does yol have the -un suffix here?
It is part of a possessive relationship. In Turkish, to say "side of the road," you say yolun tarafı (literally "the road's side"). The -un suffix adds the meaning of "of the" or "'s" to yol (road).
What exactly are the suffixes on tarafında?
To the root word taraf (side), we add three things. First is -ı, the possessive suffix linking it to the road. Next is -n-, a buffer letter required when adding location endings like "on" or "at" to words that already have possessive suffixes. Finally, we add -da, the ending for "on" or "at".
Why is bu in the middle of the sentence instead of at the beginning?
In Turkish, adjectives go right before the noun they describe. Because bu (this) is describing the side, not the road, it goes right before tarafında. If you said bu yolun tarafında, it would mean "on the side of this road."
I learned that durmak means "to stop." Does it also mean "to stand"?
Yes! The verb durmak means both "to stop" and "to stand" (as in being physically stationary in a location). Depending on the context, duruyoruz can mean "we are stopping" or "we are standing."