English says so tired that I fell asleep, such a mess that nobody could fix it — a degree word sets up an intensity, and a that-clause delivers the consequence. Turkish has an almost exact mirror: a degree word (o kadar "so much," öyle "so," o derece "to such a degree") sets the intensity, and ki introduces the result. This is the one construction where the borrowed ki is completely idiomatic in everyday speech — unlike its bookish life as a general complementizer. If you only ever use ki in one place, make it this one.
The basic frame: degree word + adjective/verb + ki + result
The pattern is fixed:
[ o kadar / öyle / o derece ] + [ adjective or verb ] + ki + [ result clause ]
The degree word and the quality come first; ki is the hinge; the consequence follows as a full finite clause.
O kadar güzeldi ki anlatamam.
It was so beautiful that I can't describe it.
Öyle acıktım ki masadaki her şeyi yedim.
I got so hungry that I ate everything on the table.
O kadar koştu ki nefesi kesildi.
He ran so much that he got out of breath.
Notice that öyle typically attaches to a quality or verb directly (öyle yoruldum "I got so tired"), while o kadar "so much / that much" works both with adjectives (o kadar güzeldi) and with verbs of quantity/intensity (o kadar koştu "ran so much"). Both land in the same … ki result.
Öyle yoruldum ki uyuyakaldım.
I got so tired that I fell asleep.
Hava o kadar soğuktu ki parmaklarım hissizleşti.
It was so cold that my fingers went numb.
Choosing the degree word
The three intensifiers are largely interchangeable but carry slightly different flavours.
| Intensifier | Sense | Register | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| öyle | "so / in such a way" — emotional, vivid | (informal), very common in speech | Öyle korktum ki… |
| o kadar | "so much / to that extent" — measurable degree | neutral, all registers | O kadar yoruldum ki… |
| o derece(de) | "to such a degree" — emphatic, formal | (formal) / (literary) | O derece etkilendim ki… |
O derece şaşırdım ki bir an ne diyeceğimi bilemedim.
I was so astonished that for a moment I couldn't think what to say.
Öyle bir baktı ki içim ürperdi.
He gave me such a look that a chill ran through me.
The last example shows öyle bir "such a (one)" used before a noun or verb for a vivid, often dramatic result — a high-frequency colloquial flavour of the same frame. For the broader inventory of intensifiers, see the degree adverbs page.
What goes in the result clause
The result clause after ki is a full finite clause — any tense, any mood — because ki introduces finite subordination. Common results are:
- a plain statement of consequence (nefesi kesildi "he got out of breath"),
- an inability (anlatamam "I can't describe it"),
- a reaction or state (içim ürperdi "I shuddered").
Çocuk o kadar tatlı gülüyordu ki herkes ona hayran kaldı.
The child was smiling so sweetly that everyone was charmed by him.
Öyle bir gürültü vardı ki kendi sesimi duyamıyordum.
There was such a noise that I couldn't hear my own voice.
The result can even be left unstated for dramatic effect, the ki trailing off — a very natural spoken move:
O kadar yoruldum ki… sorma.
I'm so tired that… don't even ask.
The native alternative: no ki
Turkish also expresses result without ki, using a degree adverb plus a separate result sentence, often joined by a cause-result connector. This is the more "structurally Turkish" route and is preferred in formal writing where finite ki feels too conversational.
Çok yorulmuştum, bu yüzden hemen uyuyakaldım.
I was very tired, so I fell asleep right away.
Öylesine güzeldi ki anlatmaya kelimeler yetmez.
It was so beautiful that words aren't enough to describe it.
The first example replaces the … ki frame with bu yüzden "for that reason / so," a clean cause-result connector covered on the cause and result page. The second keeps ki but uses the heightened öylesine "so very," typical of literary register. So you have a spectrum:
- öyle … ki / o kadar … ki — everyday, idiomatic, spoken and written.
- öylesine / o derece … ki — more emphatic, formal, literary.
- çok …, bu yüzden / dolayısıyla … — the ki-free, cause-result rephrasing for formal prose.
Word order and orthography
- The intensifier precedes the adjective or verb: o kadar güzel, öyle yorgun, never güzel o kadar.
- ki is always written as a separate word — never attached, never hyphenated. (It is a different morpheme from the relativizing suffix -ki in masadaki, benimki.)
- A comma before ki is optional and largely stylistic; both O kadar yoruldum ki uyudum and O kadar yoruldum, ki uyudum occur, with the comma-less version more common.
- o kadar is two words; öyle and öylesine are one. Mind the dotted/dotless distinction: öyle (ö, y, l, e), not oyle.
Common mistakes
❌ O kadar güzeldi anlatamam.
Incorrect — result clause with no ki.
✅ O kadar güzeldi ki anlatamam.
It was so beautiful that I can't describe it.
The ki is obligatory in this construction; without it the two clauses just collide.
❌ Güzeldi ki anlatamam.
Incorrect — ki but no degree word to set up the result.
✅ O kadar güzeldi ki anlatamam.
It was so beautiful that I can't describe it.
You also need the intensifier (o kadar / öyle); ki alone doesn't mean "so … that."
❌ Yoruldum o kadar ki uyudum.
Incorrect — intensifier placed after the verb.
✅ O kadar yoruldum ki uyudum.
I got so tired that I fell asleep.
The degree word comes before the quality/verb, not after it.
❌ Öyle yoruldum -ki uyuyakaldım.
Incorrect — ki written attached with a hyphen.
✅ Öyle yoruldum ki uyuyakaldım.
I got so tired that I fell asleep.
In the result construction ki is always a separate word; the attached -ki is a different suffix entirely.
Key takeaways
- The result frame is [o kadar / öyle / o derece] + quality/verb + ki + result — "so … that."
- This is the one place where the borrowed ki is fully idiomatic in everyday speech.
- Both the intensifier and ki are required; dropping either breaks the construction.
- öyle is vivid/informal, o kadar neutral, o derece(de) / öylesine emphatic and formal.
- The native, ki-free alternative uses a degree adverb + a cause-result connector (çok …, bu yüzden …) and is preferred in formal prose.
- ki is always a separate word — never the attached relativizer -ki (masadaki, benimki).
Now practice Turkish
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Start learning Turkish→Related Topics
- ki-Clauses: Finite SubordinationB2 — The borrowed conjunction ki as a finite 'that' — Sanıyorum ki haklısın — its result and exclamative uses, and why native nominalization is preferred in neutral prose.
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- Cause and Result ConnectivesB1 — Choosing the right cause/result link in Turkish — preposed -DIğI için 'because', postposed çünkü 'because', and the result connectives bu yüzden / bu nedenle / dolayısıyla 'therefore' — and how each one sets the register.
- The Connector ki (Persian Borrowing)B2 — The one finite complementizer in Turkish — a Persian loan that lets a full clause follow, unlike native nominalization.