Breakdown of Oğlum kütüphanede ders çalışıyor.
kütüphane
library
çalışmak
to work / to study
ders
lesson, class
oğul
son
Questions & Answers about Oğlum kütüphanede ders çalışıyor.
Why is it oğlum instead of oğulum?
The base word for "son" is oğul. When we add the "my" suffix (-um), the second vowel in oğul drops out to make it easier to say. This "vowel drop" happens with several two-syllable Turkish words, especially family members and body parts.
How does the word kütüphanede work?
The base word is kütüphane (library). To say "in", "on", or "at", Turkish adds the locative suffix -da or -de. Because the last vowel in kütüphane is an "e", vowel harmony dictates we use -de, resulting in kütüphanede (at the library).
Why are there two words (ders çalışıyor) for "studying"?
The verb çalışmak on its own usually means "to work" (as in a job) or "to try". To specifically say "to study", Turkish uses the set phrase ders çalışmak, which literally translates to "to work a lesson".
Why isn't there a separate word for "is" in this sentence?
In Turkish, the present continuous tense suffix (-ıyor) handles both the action and the "is/am/are" part. So, çalışıyor translates fully to "is working" or, in this context, "is studying".