Questions & Answers about Çiftçi işçilere beşer fidan vermişti.
How does beşer translate to "five each"?
The suffix -er is the distributive suffix, added to the number beş (five). It changes the meaning to "five each" or "five at a time". Because beş ends in a consonant, we use -er. If it ended in a vowel, it would take -şer or -şar.
Why is fidan (sapling) in the singular form if he gave them five each?
In Turkish, when a noun is preceded by a number or a quantity word like the distributive numeral beşer, the noun itself must remain singular. So it is always beşer fidan, never beşer fidanlar.
Why does işçilere end with the letter -e?
The verb vermek (to give) directs its action toward a recipient, which requires the dative case (meaning "to" or "towards"). Here, we take işçi (worker), add the plural -ler, and finally the dative suffix -e to mean "to the workers".
What tense is used in the verb vermişti?
It is the past perfect (or pluperfect) tense, which translates to "had given". It combines the suffix -miş with the past tense suffix -ti. This is used to talk about an action that was completely finished before another point in the past.