Breakdown of O çağda nesilleri tükenmişti çünkü meteor çarpmıştı.
o
that / he / she / it
çünkü
because
tükenmek
to run out
çarpmak
to bump
çağ
age / era (historical period)
meteor
meteor
nesil
lineage / generation
Questions & Answers about O çağda nesilleri tükenmişti çünkü meteor çarpmıştı.
How is the past perfect tense formed in tükenmişti and çarpmıştı?
To say something 'had happened', Turkish combines the suffix -miş (or -mış) with the past tense ending -ti (or -tı). Because the verb root tüken- (to run out) has front vowels, it takes -mişti. Because çarp- (to hit) has back vowels, it takes -mıştı.
Why does the past tense ending start with a 't' instead of a 'd' in these verbs?
The past perfect is built by adding the past copula -di to the -miş suffix. Since -miş and -mış both end in the voiceless consonant 'ş', the consonant harmony rule forces the 'd' to harden into a 't'. This gives us çarpmıştı instead of çarpmışdı.
What is the literal meaning of nesilleri tükenmişti?
The Turkish expression for going extinct is nesli tükenmek. The word nesil means generation or lineage, and tükenmek means to be depleted or to run out. Therefore, nesilleri tükenmişti literally translates to 'their lineages had run out'.
Could I use zamanda instead of çağda for 'in that era'?
You could say o zamanda (at that time), but çağ specifically refers to a large historical or geological epoch, like an age or era. This makes o çağda the perfect choice when talking about extinctions or ancient history. The -da suffix is simply the locative case meaning 'in'.
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