Breakdown of Ablam ve eniştem dün bize uğradı.
biz
we
ve
and
abla
older sister
dün
yesterday
uğramak
to drop by
enişte
brother-in-law (sister's or aunt's husband)
Questions & Answers about Ablam ve eniştem dün bize uğradı.
Why does the verb uğradı not have the plural -lar suffix, even though two people (my sister and brother-in-law) dropped by?
In Turkish, when a multiple-person subject like ablam ve eniştem (my sister and brother-in-law) is acting together as a single unit, it is very common to leave the verb in the singular third-person form (uğradı). Adding -lar (uğradılar) is also grammatically correct, but the singular form is perfectly natural here.
Why is the pronoun biz (we) in the dative form bize (to us)?
The verb uğramak (to drop by / to stop by) requires the dative case (the "to/towards" suffix) for the place or people you are visiting. In Turkish, you are literally saying that they dropped "to us."
Do I have to attach the -m (my) suffix to both abla and enişte?
Yes, you generally do. Unlike English where you can just say "My sister and brother-in-law," in Turkish you add the possessive suffix to each individual noun to be perfectly clear: abla-m (my sister) and enişte-m (my brother-in-law).
This lesson is about past necessity. How would I change this sentence to say they had to drop by our place?
You would use the short verbal noun (-ma) on uğra, add the possessive (-sı), and use lazımdı. The sentence becomes: Ablamın ve eniştemin dün bize uğraması lazımdı. Notice that when using this structure, the subjects need the genitive ending, which is why they become ablamın and eniştemin.
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