Word
Ödevi bitmeyen öğrencinin okulda kalması lazımdı.
Meaning
The student whose homework was not finished had to stay at school.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Ödevi bitmeyen öğrencinin okulda kalması lazımdı.
öğrenci
student
okul
school
kalmak
to stay / to be left / to remain (in a state)
bitmek
to finish / to end
Questions & Answers about Ödevi bitmeyen öğrencinin okulda kalması lazımdı.
How does Ödevi bitmeyen öğrenci translate to "The student whose homework was not finished"?
This is the Turkish way to form a "whose" clause. You start with the possessed noun (ödev + -i = his/her homework), followed by the verb describing its state using the -(y)an/-(y)en relative suffix. So, ödevi bitmeyen öğrenci literally means "the student [that] his/her homework is not finishing/ending".
The English translation uses the passive "was not finished". Why doesn't bitmeyen have a passive suffix?
In Turkish, the verb bitmek is intransitive and naturally means "to come to an end" or "to be finished" without needing a passive suffix. If you wanted to focus on the student's action ("the student who didn't finish their homework"), you would use the transitive verb bitirmek: Ödevini bitirmeyen öğrenci...
Why is there a genitive suffix on öğrencinin?
It pairs with the possessive suffix on kalması (staying) to form a genitive-possessive phrase: öğrencinin kalması (the student's staying). When expressing necessity with lazım, Turkish uses this "[Person's] [doing] is necessary" structure.
How does the suffix on lazımdı change the sentence's meaning?