Breakdown of Çite doğru yürüyüp duruyorlar.
durmak
to stop, to stand
yürümek
to walk
doğru
towards
çit
fence
Questions & Answers about Çite doğru yürüyüp duruyorlar.
How does "doğru" mean "towards" here? Doesn't it usually mean "right" or "correct"?
Yes! While doğru on its own often means "correct" or "straight", when it follows a word with the dative case ending (like -e or -a), it acts as a postposition meaning "towards". Here, çit (fence) takes the dative -e, so çite doğru means "towards the fence".
Why does "çit" become "çite" instead of "çide"? Don't we usually soften the "t" to a "d"?
Usually, yes. This is called consonant mutation. But many single-syllable words in Turkish are exceptions to this rule. Çit (fence) is one of them, so its t remains hard when the dative ending -e is added.
What is the "-yüp" ending doing on "yürü-"?
This is the connecting suffix -(y)ip (adjusted to -yüp for vowel harmony). Normally it means "and", joining two sequential actions. But here, it is part of a special paired verb pattern: [verb] + -(y)ip durmak.
Doesn't "duruyorlar" mean "they are stopping"? How does this sentence mean "they keep walking"?
Normally, durmak does mean "to stop" or "to stand". But in the specific grammar pattern [verb] + -(y)ip durmak, it acts as a helper verb indicating that an action is done repeatedly or continuously. So yürüyüp duruyorlar means "they keep walking", not "they walk and stop".