26 Comments
Why is "The man eats the bread" not accepted? Thought there were no articles in Turkish?
Yes, there are no articles in Turkish. "The man eats the bread" suggests that the man is eating a specific bread, in which case it would put "the bread" accusative case. That would change the Turkish sentence into "Adam ekmeği yer". I hope this helps!
Would there be any distinction between "A/the man eats bread" and "Adam eats bread" if you're talking about someone named Adam?
I'm afraid not, however if you were talking about someone named Adam rather than just a random man, the context would make it clear. I'll edit to add that the name Adam in Turkish is Adem, so it's not much of a problem when it comes to Adem/adam.
Actually, does "bir" mean "a" or "the" ? When we don't use "bir", does it mean that it is something specified, can we consider it as if we used "the" ?
25
Like many other languages, does Turkish not distinguish between "A man eats bread" and "A man is eating bread"? Would those all be expressed by the verb "yer"?
- 2015
Turkish does have an equivalent of the present progressive!
Kadin su icer. = The woman drinks water.
Kadin su iciyor. = The woman is drinking water.
- 25
Thanks! I found out in a different thread that this is more of a habitual tense. This is awesome!
what is the difference between "yer" and "yiyor" and why it is "yer" here? isn't it possible to say "the man is eating bread"? I guess it is correct too..
thnx
- 2015
Adam ekmek yiyor = The man is eating bread.
Adam ekmek yer = The man eats bread.
"The man is eating bread" is not correct because it indicates an action that is in progress. While "The man eats bread" does not specify a time period.
Her pronunciation in this sentence is correct, sorry to hear you had a hard time understanding her.
Can the order of this sentence be switched around? For instance: ekmek adam yer or ekmek yer adam
Not really in this case. General direct objects must be located direct before the verb and having the subject "adam" come after yer would sound a little funky in this sentence :)
