# word order for time-related words



## littlepond

Hello,

I am a beginner in Turkish language. I was doing an exercise from a book I am studying Turkish from, and it asked me to translate the following two sentences:
A bad boy came this morning.
The bad boy came this morning.

I translated them as:
*Fena bir çocuk bu sabah geldi.
Fena çocuk bu sabah geldi.*

However, the answer key in the book gives these as the answers:
*Bu sabah fena bir çocuk geldi.
Fena çocuk bu sabah geldi.*

I am wondering is the book simply showing variability of order by using "bu sabah" in the 1st position in one sentence and not in the 1st position in the other sentence, or is it really making some difference? Should I assume that my answers were also correct?

Thanks in advance!


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## misi2991

Hello,

Your versions are also correct.


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## littlepond

Thanks, @misi2991! Is one more "normal" than other for some reason, even if both are correct?


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## misi2991

It's about where to put the emphasis.

Fena bir çocuk bu sabah geldi. (the emphasis is on "bu sabah", meaning you want to draw attention to when a bad boy came)
Bu sabah fena bir çocuk geldi. (the emphasis is on "fena bir çocuk", meaning you want to draw attention to who came this morning)


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## littlepond

Thanks again, @misi2991!


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## Cagsak

littlepond said:


> Hello,
> 
> I am a beginner in Turkish language. I was doing an exercise from a book I am studying Turkish from, and it asked me to translate the following two sentences:
> A bad boy came this morning.
> The bad boy came this morning.
> 
> I translated them as:
> *Fena bir çocuk bu sabah geldi.
> Fena çocuk bu sabah geldi.*
> 
> However, the answer key in the book gives these as the answers:
> *Bu sabah fena bir çocuk geldi.
> Fena çocuk bu sabah geldi.*
> 
> I am wondering is the book simply showing variability of order by using "bu sabah" in the 1st position in one sentence and not in the 1st position in the other sentence, or is it really making some difference? Should I assume that my answers were also correct?
> 
> Thanks in advance!



A bad boy came this morning. = Kötü bir çocuk geldi bu sabah. / Bu sabah kötü bir çocuk geldi. / Kötü bir çocuk bu sabah geldi.

The bad boy came this morning. = Kötü çocuk geldi bu sabah. / Bu sabah kötü çocuk geldi. / Kötü çocuk bu sabah geldi.

All of these translations are correct. The words Kötü and Fena are synonyms but in these phrases, it's more common to say kötü.


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## littlepond

Thanks a lot, @Cagsak. So one can also place the verb in some other position rather than the final position? A book had told me that it should always be at the end ("geldi" here).


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## Cagsak

littlepond said:


> Thanks a lot, @Cagsak. So one can also place the verb in some other position rather than the final position? A book had told me that it should always be at the end ("geldi" here).



You're welcome. 
I don't know that book but I know the Turkish language. 
All of the Turkish phrases that were written under this topic are correct. I mean we say any of them in daily conversations. Grammar books might say different but it doesn't matter unless you don't take an exam about grammar rules.


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## Rallino

Verbs are at the end in official documents, newspaper headlines and research papers.

Outside of those contexts, the verb can freely change places in most cases, including novels, newspaper columns, magazines, and obviously in speech.


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## misi2991

littlepond said:


> A book had told me that it should always be at the end ("geldi" here).



"Always" is too much of a big word here.


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## littlepond

Thanks a lot, @Cagsak, @Rallino, and @misi2991! Of course, all of you live the language, so know the language better than some instruction manual: thanks again, your replies were very helpful.


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