Learn Turkish: Rekabetçi adaylar, soruları yarışırcasına cevaplıyordu. - The competitive candidates were answering the questions as if racing.

This highlights our current lesson! It is built from the verb yarışmak (to race). First, we find the aorist (simple present) form by adding -ır, giving us yarışır. Then we attach the extreme manner suffix -casına, which translates to "as if doing [verb]." The whole word acts as an adverb modifying how they answered: "as if racing."

What is the root of the word rekabetçi?

It comes from the noun rekabet, which means "competition" or "rivalry." Adding the suffix -çi (which denotes a person's profession or a strong habitual trait) turns it into an adjective. Thus, rekabetçi means "competitive."

Why is soruları in the accusative case here?

Because the candidates are answering specific, known questions (likely the ones on their exam or in their interview), making it a definite direct object. We use the accusative suffix -ı to show this. If they were just answering general, unspecified questions, it would be left in the plain plural form as sorular.

Why does cevaplıyordu have an ı in the middle? Isn't the verb stem cevapla-?