Breakdown of Sekreter misafirleri buluşturdu ve onlardan kartvizitlerini istedi.
onlar
they
ve
and
istemek
to want / to require / to call for
misafir
guest
sekreter
secretary
buluşturmak
to bring together
kartvizit
business card
Questions & Answers about Sekreter misafirleri buluşturdu ve onlardan kartvizitlerini istedi.
How do we get the meaning "brought together" from the verb buluşturdu?
The root is bul- (to find). Adding the reciprocal suffix -uş gives us buluş- (to find each other, meaning to meet). Then, adding the causative suffix -tur creates buluştur-, which means "to cause to meet" or "to bring together". Finally, -du is the past tense. This is a perfect example of reciprocal-causative voice stacking.
Why is misafirleri in the accusative case? Don't reciprocal verbs usually involve "with" (ile)?
If the verb were just the reciprocal buluştular (they met), you would use ile (with). However, adding the causative suffix -tur makes the verb transitive. The secretary is the one doing the action of bringing people together, making misafirleri (the guests) the direct object receiving that action, which requires the accusative case -i.
Why does the sentence use onlardan (from them) when the English translation says "asked them"?
In Turkish, the verb istemek (to want / to ask for) takes the ablative case (-dan / -den) for the person you are making the request to. Literally, the secretary wanted the business cards from them. This is a vital pattern to remember for verbs of requesting or borrowing.
Can you break down the stack of suffixes on kartvizitlerini?
The root is kartvizit (business card). Then we have -leri, which is the third-person plural possessive suffix meaning "their" (referring to the guests). The -n- is a buffer letter required after a possessive suffix, and the final -i is the accusative case marker, since the cards are the direct object of what the secretary asked for (istedi).
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