Breakdown of Sımsıcak odada oturup dışarıdaki karı izliyorduk.
oda
room
oturmak
to sit
izlemek
to watch
dışarı
outside
kar
snow
sımsıcak
very warm / piping hot
Questions & Answers about Sımsıcak odada oturup dışarıdaki karı izliyorduk.
How exactly is the intensified adjective sımsıcak formed?
To intensify an adjective, Turkish takes the first syllable of the word (in this case, sı- from sıcak), adds one of four consonant letters (m, p, r, or s), and attaches the whole thing to the front of the word. For sıcak, the consonant traditionally used is m, creating sımsıcak (very warm/hot). There isn't a strict phonetic rule for which consonant to pick, so you just have to memorize the most common ones!
What does the -up ending on oturup do here?
The -(y)ıp / -(y)ip / -(y)up / -(y)üp suffix connects two verbs done by the same subject, replacing the word ve (and). Instead of saying oturuyorduk ve izliyorduk (we were sitting and we were watching), Turkish naturally bundles them by putting -up on the first verb. It takes its tense from the final verb (izliyorduk).
Why is it dışarıdaki and not just dışarıda?
Dışarıda simply means "outside" (as an adverb of location). By adding the -ki suffix, you turn it into an adjective that describes a noun: dışarıdaki kar means "the snow that is outside." Whenever you want to say "the [noun] in/at [place]," you need this -ki attached to the locative case.
Why is there an -ı on kar (karı)?
It is the specific direct object marker (accusative case). The subjects aren't watching just any snow in general; they are watching the specific snow outside. Because kar (snow) is the direct receiver of the action izliyorduk (we were watching), it must take the -ı ending.
The verb root for watch is izle-. Why does it change to izliyorduk?
This is a classic case of vowel narrowing. When the continuous tense suffix -iyor is added to a verb ending in a wide unrounded vowel like -a or -e (like izle-), that vowel "narrows" to fit the suffix. Here, the -e becomes an -i, making it izliyorduk instead of the incorrect izleyorduk.
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