Breakdown of Onu neden partiye davet ediyorsun? O zaten evcimen.
o
that / he / she / it
davet etmek
to invite
parti
party
neden
why
zaten
anyway, in any case
evcimen
homebody
Questions & Answers about Onu neden partiye davet ediyorsun? O zaten evcimen.
I learned that zaten means 'already'. Why is it translated as 'anyway' here?
In this context, zaten is used as a discourse marker to state an inherent fact or to reinforce an argument. By saying O zaten evcimen, the speaker is pointing out a known characteristic (he is a homebody) to show that inviting him is pointless. When used this way to dismiss or reinforce a point, it translates best to 'anyway' or 'besides' in English.
I recognize ev (home) in evcimen, but what does the rest of the word do?
The word evcimen means someone who loves being at home (a 'homebody'). The suffix -cimen is quite rare in Turkish and is used to describe someone who has a strong tendency toward the root noun. Another rare example is işçimen (hardworking, someone devoted to their work). You do not need to memorize this suffix; just treating evcimen as a set vocabulary word is perfect!
Could I drop the pronoun O and just say Zaten evcimen?
Yes, you absolutely can! Because Turkish frequently drops subject pronouns, Zaten evcimen is perfectly natural. However, including O puts a little extra focus on the person, contrasting his specific personality with the highly social setting of a party.
Why use the present continuous davet ediyorsun instead of the aorist (simple present) davet edersin?
The present continuous (-iyor) focuses on the specific action happening right now—the listener is currently in the process of inviting this person, or intends to right now. If you used the aorist (davet edersin), it would sound like a general question about a hypothetical or habitual action, like 'Why would you invite him (in general)?' or 'Why do you usually invite him?'
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