Learn Turkish: Parayı saydım ve cüzdana koydum. - I counted the money and put it in the wallet.

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)?