Breakdown of Ormanda saklambaç oynardık, sonra birbirimizi kovalardık.
oynamak
to play
sonra
later
orman
forest
birbiri
each other / one another
saklambaç
hide-and-seek
kovalamak
to chase
Questions & Answers about Ormanda saklambaç oynardık, sonra birbirimizi kovalardık.
How do we get the "used to" meaning in oynardık and kovalardık?
Both verbs use the habitual past tense, formed by combining the aorist (the general present tense) with the past tense suffix. In oynardık, we have the verb root oyna-, the aorist suffix -r, the past tense suffix -dı, and the personal ending -k for "we". Together, the -rdı structure translates perfectly to "used to" or "would" for repeated past habits.
Why is the aorist suffix just -r in both of these verbs, rather than -ar or -ır?
Both verb roots (oyna- and kovala-) end in a vowel. When forming the aorist, verbs that end in a vowel always take just -r. Then you add the past tense and personal suffixes directly after it.
What is the breakdown of the word birbirimizi?
The base word is birbiri (each other). In Turkish, this reciprocal pronoun needs a possessive suffix to match the subject. Since the subject is "we", we add -miz (our). Finally, we add the accusative case suffix -i because "each other" is the direct object being chased by the verb kovalardık. This gives us birbirimizi.
Could we use oynuyorduk instead of oynardık here?
You could, but it changes the meaning slightly. Oynuyorduk is the past continuous (we were playing). Using the aorist past oynardık is much better here because it emphasizes a nostalgic, repeated, habitual action in the past (we used to play) rather than a continuous action happening at one specific past moment.
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