Questions & Answers about Dönüş bileti çok pahalıydı.
Why is dönüş used here instead of a noun ending in -(I)m, like the ones in this lesson?
While both suffixes create nouns from verbs, they aren't always interchangeable. The -(I)m suffix (like in seçim or çözüm) usually describes the concrete result of an action. The -Iş suffix used in dönüş (from dönmek, to return) focuses more on the action itself or the manner of doing it. "The return" is conceptually an action, so it takes -Iş.
Could I say dönme bileti instead, since -me also makes nouns from verbs?
No, dönüş bileti is a fixed, everyday expression. While dönme is a standard verbal noun meaning the act of "returning", dönüş has become the established, dictionary-defined noun for a "return journey" or "return trip".
Why does bilet have an -i suffix at the end?
This is a brief refresher on noun compounds (isim tamlaması). In English, you can just place two nouns next to each other ("return ticket"). In Turkish, the second noun needs a possessive suffix to link them together. Therefore, dönüş + bilet + -i becomes dönüş bileti.
What is the exact breakdown of the suffix in pahalıydı?
It is pahalı (expensive) + -y- (buffer consonant) + -dı (past tense marker for "was"). Because pahalı ends in a vowel, the buffer -y- is required to prevent two vowels from clashing when attaching the past tense suffix.
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