Breakdown of Mengene tahtayı böyle sıkıca tutmuyor.
böyle
like this
tutmak
to catch / to hold
tahta
wood (board, plank) / wooden board
sıkıca
tightly
Questions & Answers about Mengene tahtayı böyle sıkıca tutmuyor.
How does böyle work together with sıkıca in this sentence?
Böyle means "like this" or "in this way." Here, it acts as an adverb of degree or manner modifying sıkıca (tightly). Together, böyle sıkıca means "tightly like this" or "so tightly."
What is the -ca suffix doing at the end of sıkıca?
Why is tahta (wood) written as tahtayı?
The vise is holding a specific piece of wood, so tahta needs the accusative case (specific direct object) suffix. We add the buffer letter -y- and the vowel -ı to get tahtayı (the wood).
Why does the negative suffix in tutmuyor use a "u" instead of an "a" or "e"?
The negative suffix is usually -me or -ma. However, the present continuous suffix -yor always causes the vowel right before it to narrow. Because the verb root tut- has a "u" sound, the negative suffix -ma narrows to -mu to match it, making tutmuyor.