Lesson 19
“the” and “a”
In Turkish there is not always a difference between “a” and “the”. In the case of a direct object of a verb, there is a distinction: in this case we need the equivalent of “the” which is -ı,-i,u,ü. We bring the word endings at the end of the object. The the object ends with a vowel, then we will need the buffer letter “y”. The equivalent of “a” is either bir or nothing. Examples will make it more clear.
Kahve iç. Drink (some) coffee.
Bir kahve iç. Drink a tea.
Kahveyi iç. Drink ther coffee.
Bisiklet sür. Ride bike.
Bisikleti sür. Ride the bike.
Lambayı yak. Turn on the lamp.
Sigarayı söndür. Put off the cigarette.
Sokağı geç. Pass the street.
Pencereyi aç. Open the window.
Filmi izle. Watch the movie.
Çatalları getir. Bring the forks.
Karpuzu getir. Bring the watermelon.
Musluğu aç. Turn the tap on.
It is very important to understand the direct object of a verb. A direct object is something or someone which is having an action carried out on it.
Beni öp. Kiss me. (Beni is the direct object)
Seni özlüyorum. I am missing you. (Seni is the direct object)
Onu düşünüyorum. I am thinking of her/him. (Onu is the direct object)
Bizi beklemeyin. Do not wait for us. (Bizi is the direct object)
Sizi arıyorum. I am looking for you. (Sizi is the direct object)
Onları evde görmedim. I didn’t see them at home. (Onları is the direct object)
We can even use the personal names as a direct object.
Ali’yi gör. See Ali.
Merve’yi düşünüyorum. I am thinking of Merve.
Thomas’ı bekle. Wait for Thomas.
Mary’i seviyorum. I love Mary.
Michael’ı gördün mü? Have you seen Michael?
Levent’i seviyor musun? Do you love Levent?
Ellie’nin annesi Ellie’yi arıyor. Ellie’s mum is looking for Ellie.
Note: Any suffix comes after a person’s name should be separeted by an apostrophe.
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