The standard, neutral word order in a Turkish sentence is Subject-Object-Verb (SOV).

Structure:

Subject (Özne) - Object (Nesne) - Verb (Yüklem)

Example:

Ben elmayı yedim.

• Ben: I (Subject)
• elma-yı: the apple (Object, accusative case)
• ye-di-m: ate (Verb: ye- (eat stem) + -di (past tense) + -m (1st person singular))

English equivalent: I ate the apple.

Flexibility and Emphasis:

While SOV is standard, Turkish word order is flexible, especially in spoken language. Changing the order shifts emphasis:

• Elmayı ben yedim. (THE APPLE, I ate it. - Emphasis on 'the apple')
• Ben yedim elmayı. (I ATE it, the apple. - Emphasis on 'ate', or 'the apple' is an afterthought)
• Yedim ben elmayı. (ATE I the apple. - Less common, poetic or strong emphasis on the verb at the beginning)

Other Elements:

• Adjectives typically precede the nouns they modify: kırmızı elma (red apple).
• Adverbs can appear in various positions but often come before the verb or the element they modify.