Breakdown of Neredeyse iki saattir otobüs bekliyoruz.
iki
two
otobüs
bus
beklemek
to wait
saat
hour / o'clock
neredeyse
almost, nearly
Questions & Answers about Neredeyse iki saattir otobüs bekliyoruz.
The current lesson is about '-dir' expressing probability. Does '-tir' in 'iki saattir' mean 'probably two hours'?
No. While the suffix -dir / -tir expresses probability or assumption when attached to a verb (like bekliyordur, meaning 'is probably waiting'), it has a different job when attached to time expressions. On a time word, it means 'for' a duration. So iki saattir simply means 'for two hours'.
The translation says 'have been waiting', but bekliyoruz is present continuous ('are waiting'). Why?
In Turkish, if an action started in the past and is still happening right now, you just use the standard present continuous tense (-iyor). The time expression iki saattir already provides the 'how long' context, so Turkish doesn't need a complex 'perfect continuous' tense like English does.
Why isn't the accusative case used here (otobüsü) if we are waiting for 'the' bus?
By leaving off the accusative suffix, otobüs acts as a general, indefinite object. In Turkish, you are essentially doing the action of 'bus-waiting'. Even though English naturally translates this as 'waiting for the bus', Turkish prefers the general form unless you are waiting for a very specific, unique bus (like a specific tour bus you previously pointed out).
Why does the suffix become -tir instead of -dir in iki saattir?
This is a quick reminder of consonant harmony. Because the word saat ends in a voiceless consonant (t), the suffix must also start with a voiceless consonant to match it. This forces the d in the suffix to harden into a t.
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