Breakdown of Bu çanta kime ait? Eşyalar karıştı!
bu
this
kim
who
çanta
bag
eşya
belonging / item / stuff (goods, objects)
Questions & Answers about Bu çanta kime ait? Eşyalar karıştı!
Why do we use kime here instead of kimin (whose)?
The word ait (belonging to) always requires the preceding noun or pronoun to be in the dative case (the direction/to case). So, instead of using the genitive kimin (whose), we use kim + -e to get kime (to whom).
Is there a difference between saying Bu çanta kimin? and Bu çanta kime ait??
They mean almost exactly the same thing. Bu çanta kimin? (Whose bag is this?) is more everyday and conversational. Bu çanta kime ait? (To whom does this bag belong?) is slightly more formal and puts a stronger emphasis on actual ownership.
Why doesn't the verb karıştı have a plural ending (karıştılar) since the subject eşyalar (items) is plural?
In Turkish, when a plural subject is inanimate (non-human), the verb is almost always left in the singular form. Because eşyalar refers to objects, the verb remains karıştı rather than taking the plural suffix -lar.
Why is the past tense used for karıştı if the situation is a present problem?
Turkish often uses the definite past tense (-dı/-di/-tı/-ti) for a change of state that just occurred and remains true in the present. The action of the items getting mixed up is complete, which gives us the present reality: the items are currently mixed up.