Word
Maraton koşucusu noktayı ona çeyrek kala geçti.
Meaning
The marathon runner passed the checkpoint at a quarter to ten.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Maraton koşucusu noktayı ona çeyrek kala geçti.
on
ten
geçmek
to pass / to cross / to shift (into a gear)
çeyrek
quarter (of an hour)
kala
to (the hour)
Questions & Answers about Maraton koşucusu noktayı ona çeyrek kala geçti.
Why is it ona çeyrek kala instead of just on çeyrek kala?
To say an event happens at a certain number of minutes to the hour, we use the dative case on the hour and add kala (remaining/to). Since the hour is ten (on), we add the dative ending -a to make ona. Çeyrek means quarter, so ona çeyrek kala means at a quarter to ten.
Is kala a verb here?
It comes from the verb kalmak (to remain or stay). By adding the ending -a, it turns into an adverb-like time expression meaning remaining. Literally, ona çeyrek kala means with a quarter remaining to ten.
Why does nokta (checkpoint) take the accusative case to become noktayı?
The verb geçmek (to pass) takes a direct object when you pass a physical place or line. Because the runner is passing a specific, known checkpoint, nokta gets the accusative ending -ı. The y is just a buffer letter to separate the two vowels.
Why is there a -su at the end of koşucu in Maraton koşucusu?
This is a noun compound. When combining two nouns where the first one describes the category or type of the second (a marathon-type runner), only the second noun gets a possessive ending. So, maraton stays as is, and koşucu gets the possessive ending -su.