Questions & Answers about Zürafanın boyu çok uzun.
Why do we say Zürafanın boyu instead of just Zürafa çok uzun?
In Turkish, physical height is usually described using the word boy (height or length). Instead of saying an animal or person is directly 'tall', Turkish speakers say their 'height is long' (boyu uzun) or 'height is short' (boyu kısa). Literally, this sentence translates to 'The giraffe's height is very long.'
Can you break down the suffixes in Zürafanın boyu?
This is a genitive-possessive phrase showing ownership. Zürafa (giraffe) takes the owner suffix -nın to mean 'the giraffe's' (using the buffer letter n because the word ends in a vowel). The owned item, boy (height), takes the possessive suffix -u to mean 'its height'.
How would I use gibi to say someone is 'tall like a giraffe'?
You could say Zürafa gibi uzun boylu (Tall like a giraffe). Notice that when making comparisons with gibi, the noun before it (zürafa) stays in its plain form, unlike in our sentence where it needed the -nın suffix to show ownership.
Why isn't there a suffix at the end of uzun to mean 'is'?
In everyday Turkish, the formal 'is' suffix (-dır or -dir) is most often dropped in simple descriptive sentences. Ending the sentence at çok uzun is grammatically complete and perfectly natural on its own.
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