Learn Turkish: Telgraf, tekerlekten yüzyıllar sonra icat edildi. - The telegraph was invented centuries after the wheel.

Telgraf, tekerlekten yüzyıllar sonra icat edildi.

The telegraph was invented centuries after the wheel.

Breakdown of Telgraf, tekerlekten yüzyıllar sonra icat edildi.

Questions & Answers about Telgraf, tekerlekten yüzyıllar sonra icat edildi.

How does the passive suffix work in icat edildi?

The active verb for 'to invent' is the compound icat etmek. To make it passive ('to be invented'), we apply the passive suffix -il to the helper verb root et-. Because the suffix starts with a vowel, the t in et- softens to a d, becoming edil-. Finally, we add the past tense -di to get icat edildi.

Why isn't the passive suffix added directly to icat?

İcat is a noun meaning 'invention', and in Turkish, you cannot attach verb suffixes like the passive -il directly to nouns. You must first use the helper verb etmek to make it an action (icat etmek), and then make that helper verb passive (icat edilmek).

Why does tekerlek (wheel) take the -ten ending?

The postposition sonra (after) requires the noun it refers to to take the ablative case (the 'from' ending, -dAn). Because tekerlek ends in a hard consonant (k), the suffix hardens to -ten. Together with sonra, it forms the structure for 'after the wheel'.

In English we say 'centuries after the wheel', but here yüzyıllar (centuries) is between tekerlekten and sonra. Why?