Breakdown of Almanca öğrendiğim şehir çok pahalıydı.
çok
very
pahalı
expensive
şehir
city
öğrenmek
to learn
Almanca
German (language)
Questions & Answers about Almanca öğrendiğim şehir çok pahalıydı.
Why does öğrendiğim translate to 'where I learned' without a specific word for 'where'?
In Turkish, relative clauses describing places don't use words like 'where' or 'in which'. Instead, they use the -dik object participle. Öğrendiğim şehir structurally acts like 'my-learned city'. Because it modifies a physical place (şehir), English naturally translates this relationship using 'where'.
What exactly are the suffixes on öğrendiğim?
It is built from the verb root öğren (learn). We add the object participle suffix -dik (which undergoes consonant softening to become -diğ before a vowel) and the first-person possessive suffix -im (my). Together, öğren + -diğ + -im creates the modifier 'where I learned'.
Since it means 'where I learned', shouldn't there be a locative suffix like şehirde?
No, because şehir is the subject of the main sentence ('The city... was very expensive'). The 'where/in which' relationship is handled entirely by the -dik participle on the verb. If you said Almanca öğrendiğim şehirde, you would be saying 'In the city where I learned German...', which would leave the main sentence unfinished.
Why is there a -y- in pahalıydı?
Pahalı (expensive) ends in a vowel, and the past tense suffix used here to mean 'was' is -dı. When attaching this past tense suffix directly to a noun or adjective ending in a vowel, Turkish requires the buffer consonant -y-. Therefore, it becomes pahalı-y-dı.
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