Question 1

Why does this sentence use the past continuous kesiyordum (I was cutting) instead of the simple past kestim (I cut) for a quick accident?

Accepted Answer

To express an action that almost happened but was averted at the last moment, Turkish pairs words like az kalsın (or neredeyse) with the Past Continuous tense (-yordu). While English uses the simple past ("I almost cut"), Turkish uses the continuous to show the action was on the verge of happening before being stopped.

Question 2

Why do we use the locative sende instead of the genitive senin to ask "do you have"?

Accepted Answer

We use the locative case (-de/-da) with var when asking if someone has something on their person at this exact moment. If you asked senin yara bandın var mı? (using the genitive), you would be asking if they generally own a band-aid, perhaps at home in their medicine cabinet!

Question 3

Where does the -ı at the end of yara bandı come from, and why is it spelled with a d instead of a t?

Accepted Answer

Yara bandı is a noun compound linking yara (wound) and bant (tape). When joining two nouns where the first acts as a category for the second, the second noun takes the possessive suffix -ı or -i. Adding this vowel causes the final hard t in bant to soften to a d, making it bandı.

Question 4

Let's break down parmağımı. Why does it have two suffixes at the end?

Accepted Answer

It combines the possessive and the accusative! The root is parmak (finger). First we add the possessive -ım to get parmağım (my finger). Since "my finger" is a specific direct object of the verb kesmek, we must add the accusative suffix -ı at the end, resulting in parmağımı. Notice how the k softens to ğ when the first vowel is added.

Az kalsın parmağımı kesiyordum, sende yara bandı var mı?

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