Word Order (SOV)

The neutral word order of a Turkish sentence is Subject – Object – Verb (SOV). The verb, or predicate (yüklem), normally comes last.

Ben elmayı yedim.

• Ben: I (subject, özne)
• elma-yı: the apple (object, nesne, accusative case)
• ye-di-m: ate (verb: ye- eat + -di past + -m I)

I ate the apple. Because the verb ending already shows the person, the subject pronoun is usually dropped: Elmayı yedim.

A Fuller Sentence

In longer sentences, a typical neutral order is: Subject – Time – Place – Indirect object – Direct object – Verb.

Ayşe gave a letter to the teacher at school yesterday.

More Examples

• Annem her sabah çay içer. (My mother drinks tea every morning.)
• Biz yarın İzmir'e gidiyoruz. (We are going to İzmir tomorrow.)
• Kardeşim kitabı masaya koydu. (My brother/sister put the book on the table.)
• Ali kahve içmiyor. (Ali doesn't drink coffee.) (the negative is inside the verb)
• Bu ev çok güzel. (This house is very beautiful.) (the adjective is the predicate, so it comes last)

Focus: the Word Before the Verb

Word order is flexible, but it is not free. The element directly before the verb carries the main emphasis (focus). Elements placed after the verb are background information or afterthoughts.

• Ben elmayı yedim. (I ate the apple. (neutral, or focus on the apple))
• Elmayı ben yedim. (It was I who ate the apple. (focus on 'ben'))
• Ben yedim elmayı. (I ate it, the apple. (focus on 'ben'; 'elmayı' is background))
• Yedim ben elmayı. (I did eat the apple. (colloquial, verb first for emphasis))

Questions

Question words also stand directly before the verb: Ali nereye gitti? (Where did Ali go?), Bu kitabı kim yazdı? (Who wrote this book?). The question particle mi follows the word it questions: Ali dün mü geldi? (Did Ali come YESTERDAY?) vs. Ali dün geldi mi? (Did Ali come yesterday?)

Inside Phrases

• Adjectives precede nouns: kırmızı elma (red apple); with bir: güzel bir ev (a beautiful house).
• Possessors precede what they own: Ali'nin arabası (Ali's car).
• Turkish uses postpositions, which come after the noun: senin için (for you), yemekten sonra (after the meal).

Common Mistakes

• ✗ Ben yedim bir elma. → ✓ Ben bir elma yedim. An indefinite object (no case ending) must stand right before the verb.
• ✗ Gitti Ali nereye? → ✓ Ali nereye gitti?
• ✗ için senin → ✓ senin için (postposition after the noun)