Word
Ağaçtaki kuş bize bakabilir.
Meaning
The bird on the tree might look at us.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Questions & Answers about Ağaçtaki kuş bize bakabilir.
Why does bakabilir mean 'might look' here instead of 'is able to look'?
The suffix -(y)abil combined with the aorist tense (here, -ir) is used to express both physical ability ('can') and probability ('might' or 'may'). You will increasingly see it used for probability. Context tells you which one is meant: since a bird inherently has the physical ability to look, 'might look' is the most natural translation here.
Why does the sentence use bize instead of the direct object bizi?
The verb bakmak (to look) requires the dative case. This is because in Turkish, you look towards a target. Therefore, the pronoun biz (we/us) takes the dative suffix -e to become bize.
How do the suffixes in Ağaçtaki work together?
The word is made of three parts: ağaç (tree) + -ta (locative suffix meaning 'on' or 'in') + -ki (a suffix that turns a location into an adjective). Because ağaç ends in a hard consonant, the locative suffix starts with a hard -t instead of -d. Together, they form ağaçtaki, meaning 'the one on the tree' to describe the bird.