Question 1

Since this lesson is about distributives, could we use "birer" here and say "Birer kere daha söyler misin?"

Accepted Answer

You could, but it changes the meaning! Bir kere means "one time". If you use the distributive form birer kere, it means "one time each". You would only use birer kere daha söyler misiniz? if you were talking to multiple people and asking them to each repeat what they said.

Question 2

Why is the aorist tense used here (söyler) instead of the present continuous (söylüyor)?

Accepted Answer

In Turkish, the aorist tense (indicated by the -r in söyler) is the standard way to make polite requests, translating well to "would you" or "could you" in English. If you asked Bir kere daha söylüyor musun?, it would literally mean "Are you saying it one more time right now?", which sounds factual rather than polite.

Question 3

Why does daha come after bir kere? In English we say "one MORE time".

Accepted Answer

When daha is used to mean "an additional amount" or "extra", it comes after the noun phrase it modifies. So, "one more time" is built as "one time more" (bir kere daha). You will see this pattern everywhere, such as bir çay daha (one more tea) or iki kişi daha (two more people).

Question 4

Could I use the verb demek (to say) instead of söylemek here?

Accepted Answer

It is much more natural to use söylemek. While both verbs mean "to say", demek is almost exclusively used with direct quotes (e.g., repeating the exact words someone said). When you are asking someone to perform the action of saying or repeating something, söylemek is the right choice.

Bir kere daha söyler misin?

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