Word
Çocuklar makarnayı çok seviyor.
Meaning
The children love pasta a lot.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Questions & Answers about Çocuklar makarnayı çok seviyor.
Why does makarnayı have the accusative ending -yı if they just love 'pasta' in general?
In English, we say 'I love pasta' to mean the general category. However, in Turkish, verbs of liking and disliking (like sevmek) require their direct object to take the accusative case, even for general things. That is why makarna gets the buffer -y- and the accusative suffix -ı.
The subject is plural (Çocuklar). Why is the verb seviyor instead of seviyorlar?
In Turkish, when a human plural subject is specifically stated in the sentence, the plural suffix -lar on the verb becomes optional. You could say Çocuklar makarnayı çok seviyorlar, but dropping the suffix on the verb is very common and completely natural.
Doesn't seviyor mean 'is loving'? Why use the continuous tense for a general fact?
English usually uses the simple present tense for feelings. But Turkish frequently uses the present continuous tense (-iyor) for verbs expressing emotions, thoughts, or ongoing states. For verbs like sevmek (to love/like) and istemek (to want), this is the standard way to express a general preference.
Can I put çok at the very end of the sentence?
No, it would sound unnatural. In standard Turkish word order, the verb almost always goes at the very end of the sentence. Adverbs like çok that describe the verb need to be placed immediately before the verb they modify.