Questions & Answers about Parayı saydım ve cüzdana koydum.
Why do we use parayı instead of just para?
Para means money, but here it has the specific object ending (the accusative case) -(y)ı. We use this because we are talking about specific money (the money) that receives the action. If you just said para saydım, it would mean you counted money in a general, non-specific sense.
Why is there no word for 'it' before koydum?
In English, we say 'I put it in the wallet'. In Turkish, because the object parayı was already stated in the first half of the sentence, it carries over to the second half. You do not need to repeat it or use a pronoun when the two verbs share the exact same object.
Why does cüzdana have the -a ending instead of the -da (in) ending?
In English, we put things 'in' places, but in Turkish, the verb koymak (to put) implies movement toward a destination. Because you are directing the money toward the wallet, you must use the dative case (the direction ending -a or -e). So, the grammar literally translates to 'I put to the wallet'.
Both verbs are in the past tense for 'I', so why do they end differently (saydım vs koydum)?
This is standard 4-way vowel harmony for the past tense ending. The verb root say- (to count) has an 'a', so its ending gets an 'ı', making saydım. The verb root koy- (to put) has an 'o', which changes the past tense vowel to an 'u', making koydum.
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