Questions & Answers about Yüzücünün çok hızlı olduğunu gördük.
How does the word yüzücünün demonstrate the agentive suffix from our current lesson?
The base word here is yüzücü, which is formed by taking the verb root yüz- (to swim) and adding the agentive suffix -ücü. This suffix creates a noun representing the person who performs the action, making it mean swimmer. The -nün at the very end is the genitive case marker.
Why is yüzücünün in the genitive case rather than being a plain subject?
It acts as the subject of the embedded clause meaning that the swimmer was very fast. In Turkish, when you turn a clause into a noun phrase using a participle like -dık or -duk, the subject of that embedded clause must take the genitive case.
Let's break down olduğunu. Why does it end with two -u suffixes?
The word is built as ol-duk-u-n-u. The first -u is the 3rd person singular possessive suffix, completing the grammatical pair with the genitive yüzücünün. The -n- is a buffer consonant, and the final -u is the accusative case marker. The accusative is necessary because the entire that clause is the direct object of the main verb gördük (we saw).
Where did the -k go from the -duk participle in olduğunu?