Breakdown of Hata yaparsak, her adımı baştan alıp yeniden gözden geçirmeliyiz.
yapmak
to make
her
every
adım
the step
almak
to take
yeniden
again
hata
the mistake
-sa
if
gözden geçirmek
to review
baştan
from the beginning
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Questions & Answers about Hata yaparsak, her adımı baştan alıp yeniden gözden geçirmeliyiz.
Why does yaparsak end with -sak, and what does that suffix indicate?
The suffix -sak is the first-person-plural conditional ending in Turkish (“if we…”). You take the verb stem yapar (from yapmak, “to do/make”) and add -sak to express “if we do/make.” Together, yaparsak means “if we make (a mistake)”.
Why is there no explicit pronoun for “we” in yaparsak or geçirmeliyiz?
Turkish is a pro-drop language: subject pronouns (ben, sen, biz, siz, etc.) are often omitted because the verb ending already shows person and number.
- In yaparsak, -sak tells you it’s “we.”
- In geçirmeliyiz, -yiz also signals “we.”
What does her adımı mean, and why is it in the accusative case?
Her adımı literally means “every step” or “each step.”
It’s in the accusative case (the -ı on adım) because it’s a definite direct object—the speaker refers to specific steps we’ve already taken or will take.
What is the construction baştan alıp yeniden gözden geçirmeliyiz? It looks like multiple verbs.
This phrase actually strings together two verb phrases with the converb -ıp:
- baştan almak (“to take from the beginning,” i.e., “to start over”)
- gözden geçirmek (“to pass through the eye,” idiomatically “to review”)
By turning almak into alıp, you coordinate it with the next verb gözden geçirmeliyiz:
“we should start over and review again.”
What does baştan add to almak?
baştan means “from the beginning.” When combined with almak, you get baştan almak, meaning “to start (something) over” rather than just “to take.”
Why is yeniden used instead of another word like tekrar?
Both yeniden and tekrar mean “again.”
- yeniden is more formal/literary and literally “from new.”
- tekrar is a loanword from Arabic, slightly more colloquial.
In your sentence, yeniden emphasizes re-examining each step “anew.”
What does the suffix -meli in geçirmeliyiz indicate?
-meli/meli is the necessity or obligation suffix, similar to “must” or “should” in English.
- gözden geçirmeliyiz means “we must/should review.”
Why is the main verb geçirmeliyiz at the end of the sentence?
Turkish normally follows Subject-Object-Verb word order (SOV). Even when you have multiple verb phrases, the final conjugated verb (geçirmeliyiz) comes at the end, signaling the main action of the sentence.
Why is there a comma after Hata yaparsak?
The comma separates the conditional clause (“if we make a mistake”) from the main clause. It marks a slight pause and clarifies that hata yaparsak is a dependent clause.
Could you say adımlarımızı baştan alıp… instead of her adımı?
You could say adımlarımızı baştan alıp yeniden gözden geçirmeliyiz, which means “we should start over and review our steps.”
The difference is:
- her adımı (“each step”) treats steps individually.
- adımlarımızı (“our steps”) treats them as a whole group. Both are correct, but nuance changes slightly.