Sisli yolda dikkatli adım atmak gerek.

One must take careful steps on the foggy road.

Breakdown of Sisli yolda dikkatli adım atmak gerek.

• yol: the road
• gerekmek: to be necessary
• dikkatli: carefully
• -da: on
• adım atmak: to take a step
• sisli: foggy

Questions & Answers about Sisli yolda dikkatli adım atmak gerek.

What does sisli mean, and what role does the suffix -li play?

sis means “fog,” and the suffix -li attaches to nouns to form adjectives meaning “having/with [noun].”
• sis → fog
• sis + li → sisli = “foggy”

What is yolda, and why is the locative case used here?

yol means “road,” and -da is the locative suffix meaning “on/in/at.” So yolda = “on the road.”
• yol → road
• yol + da → yolda = on the road
Putting them together, sisli yolda = “on a foggy road.”

Why is dikkatli used before adım atmak, and is it an adjective or an adverb?

dikkatli is formally an adjective meaning “careful.” In Turkish, adjectives can directly modify verbs in many contexts, acting like adverbs.
• dikkatli adım atmak = “to step carefully”
If you want a clearly adverbial form, you can say dikkatlice adım atmak, but dikkatli is perfectly normal in speech.

What does adım atmak literally mean, and why not just use one verb like “step”?

• adım = step
• atmak = to throw/place
Literally, adım atmak means “to place a step.” Many Turkish actions use a noun + atmak construction. It’s the standard idiom for “to take a step” or simply “to step.”

What does gerek mean in this sentence, and why is it followed by the infinitive adım atmak?

gerek is an impersonal modal meaning “it is necessary” or “one must.” It requires a bare infinitive (verb+mak/­­mek):
• gerek + infinitive = “it’s necessary to [verb]”
So dikkatli adım atmak gerek = “it’s necessary to step carefully.”

Can you use gerekiyor or gerekli instead of gerek? How would that change the sentence?

Yes. For a more colloquial tone, use gerekiyor (present-continuous necessity):
• Sisli yolda dikkatli adım atmak gerekiyor.
Or use gerekli as an adjective (slightly more formal):
• Sisli yolda dikkatli adım atmak gerekli.

Why is there no explicit subject like “you” or “we” in this sentence?

The gerek-construction is impersonal and applies generally (“one must…” or “it’s necessary…”). Turkish commonly omits subjects when they are generic or clear from context.

If I wanted to address someone directly, how would I say “You have to step carefully on a foggy road”?

You can use the personal necessity suffix -malı/-meli or zorunda olmak:
• Sisli yolda dikkatli adım atmalısın.
• Sisli yolda dikkatli adım atman gerekiyor.
• Sisli yolda dikkatli adım atmak zorundasın.