Breakdown of Parayı nereye sakladıkları tam bir muamma.
bir
a / an
para
money
nereye
where to
tam
exactly / fully / completely
saklamak
to hide / to keep
muamma
mystery / puzzle
Questions & Answers about Parayı nereye sakladıkları tam bir muamma.
Why is there no case marker at the end of sakladıkları?
In this sentence, the entire clause Parayı nereye sakladıkları (Where they hid the money) is the subject of the sentence. Subjects in Turkish take the nominative case, which means no case endings are added. You only add case markers (like the accusative in sakladıklarını biliyorum - 'I know where they hid it') when the clause is the object of another verb.
Why do we use the dative case for nereye (to where) instead of the locative nerede (at where)?
In English, you hide things in or at a place, but in Turkish, the act of hiding something is often treated as a motion towards a hiding spot. Because of this, saklamak (to hide) frequently takes the dative case to emphasize moving the object into its hidden location.
Why is the word order tam bir muamma instead of bir tam muamma?
Where is the main verb in this sentence?
There is no stated main verb because this is a nominal sentence (an 'A is B' sentence). The entire subject clause Parayı nereye sakladıkları is linked to the complement tam bir muamma by a hidden 'is' copula (which would formally be -dır, but it is often dropped). The word sakladıkları contains a verb root, but it functions as a noun phrase here, not as the main action.
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