Questions & Answers about Bebek şimdi yatıyor.
Why does yatıyor translate to "going to bed" instead of "lying down"?
In Turkish, the verb root yat- literally means "to lie down." However, it is also the most natural and common way to say "to go to bed" or "to sleep" in everyday conversation.
How would I apply this lesson's negative suffix to say "The baby isn't going to bed"?
You would add the negative suffix right after the verb root. For yat-, 4-way vowel harmony tells us to use -mı-, making the verb yatmıyor. The full sentence would be Bebek şimdi yatmıyor.
Why is there an ı inserted in the middle of yatıyor?
The verb root yat- ends in a consonant, and the present continuous suffix is -yor. To connect them smoothly, you need a vowel. Because the vowel in yat- is 'a', 4-way vowel harmony requires the connecting vowel to be ı, resulting in yatıyor.
Why is there no personal ending attached to the end of yatıyor?
In Turkish, the third-person singular (he, she, it) does not take an extra personal suffix. Because bebek (the baby) acts as a "he" or "she," the verb is already complete just by ending with the tense marker -yor.
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