Learn Turkish: Toprak kuruduğundan beri bu köyde kıtlık var. - Since the soil dried, there is famine in this village.

Toprak kuruduğundan beri bu köyde kıtlık var.

Since the soil dried, there is famine in this village.

Breakdown of Toprak kuruduğundan beri bu köyde kıtlık var.

Questions & Answers about Toprak kuruduğundan beri bu köyde kıtlık var.

Can you break down the suffixes in kuruduğundan beri?

Sure! The verb root is kuru- (to dry). We add the participle suffix -duk (which softens to -duğ-), followed by the 3rd person singular possessive -u (referring to the soil). Then we add the buffer -n- and the ablative case -dan (from). Combined with the postposition beri (since), the entire structure -dIğIndAn beri creates the meaning "since [it] dried."

Shouldn't "the soil" be in the genitive case (Toprağın) since it's the subject of a -dik clause?

That is a great observation! Normally, the subject of a -dik clause takes the genitive case (like benim geldiğimden beri - since I came). However, when the subject is a non-human, general, or inanimate concept like toprak (soil), the genitive suffix is frequently dropped. The verb still takes the 3rd person possessive -u to match it, though!

Why does the English translation use "there is" but Turkish uses var when the situation has been happening for a while?

In English, when using "since," we typically use the present perfect tense (e.g., "there has been a famine"). In Turkish, if a state or situation started in the past and is still continuing right now, you simply use the present tense or an existence word like var (there is/exists) alongside beri. The "has been" feeling is already covered by the word beri.