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Questions & Answers about Kışın kayak yapıyoruz.
Why is it kışın and not just kış or kışta?
The suffix -ın turns the noun kış (winter) into the adverb kışın (in winter). It is a special ending used for seasons, like yazın (in summer). While you might expect the locative case -ta (in/at), Turkish does not use it for seasons.
Wait, doesn't the suffix -ın mean 'of' or 's' (the genitive case)?
They look exactly the same, but context tells them apart! Here, it is an adverb meaning 'in winter'. If it were the genitive case (possession), it would be linked to another noun, like kışın ortası (the middle of winter).
Why does this use yapıyoruz (we are doing) instead of the simple present yaparız (we do) for a habit?
In Turkish, the present continuous tense (-ıyor) is very often used for regular habits and routines, similar to the English simple present. While yaparız is also correct, yapıyoruz is much more common in everyday spoken Turkish for things you do regularly.
How does the phrase kayak yapmak work?
Kayak translates to 'ski' (the physical object) or 'skiing'. To express the action of skiing, Turkish pairs it with the helper verb yapmak (to do). So, kayak yapmak literally means 'to do skiing'.