Diyelim ki otobüsü kaçırdık; ne yapacağız?

the bus

Breakdown of Diyelim ki otobüsü kaçırdık; ne yapacağız?

• yapmak: to do
• kaçırmak: to miss
• ne: what

Questions & Answers about Diyelim ki otobüsü kaçırdık; ne yapacağız?

What does diyelim ki mean, and is it a fixed expression?

Yes. Diyelim ki is a very common expression meaning let’s say, suppose, or imagine that.

It is often used to introduce a hypothetical situation:

• Diyelim ki yağmur başladı. — Suppose it started raining.
• Diyelim ki geç kaldık. — Let’s say we were late.

So in your sentence, Diyelim ki otobüsü kaçırdık sets up a scenario: Suppose we missed the bus.

Why is it diyelim? Is that related to demek?

Yes. Diyelim comes from the verb demek (to say).

Here, diyelim literally means something like let us say. That is why it works so naturally as let’s say / suppose.

So:

• demek — to say
• diyelim — let’s say

Even though it literally contains let’s say, in real usage it often just means suppose.

What is the role of ki in diyelim ki?