Breakdown of Sinyalden sonra birinci vitese geç.
sonra
after
geçmek
to pass / to cross / to shift (into a gear)
sinyal
turn signal
birinci
first
vites
gear
Questions & Answers about Sinyalden sonra birinci vitese geç.
Why do we need the -den suffix on sinyal? Can't I just say sinyal sonra?
In Turkish, the words sonra (after) and önce (before) are postpositions that require the preceding noun to take the ablative case (-den/-dan or -ten/-tan). You must always literally say 'from [noun] after'. That is why it becomes sinyalden sonra.
Sinyal has an 'a' in the last syllable, so shouldn't it be sinyaldan following vowel harmony rules?
That is a great catch! Sinyal is a foreign loanword, and the 'l' at the end is pronounced softly. Because of this soft sound, suffixes attach as if the last vowel were a front vowel (like 'e' or 'i'). Therefore, it takes -den instead of -dan.
Why is the word for gear (vites) in the dative case (vitese)?
The verb geçmek literally means 'to pass' or 'to cross'. When used to mean 'to switch to' or 'to shift into' (like changing gears), it requires the destination to be in the dative case (-e/-a). You are passing to the first gear.
What does the -inci suffix do in the word birinci?
The suffix -inci (along with its vowel harmony variations -ıncı, -uncu, -üncü) turns a counting number into an ordinal number (first, second, third, etc.). Since bir (one) contains an 'i', it takes -inci to become birinci (first).
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