Learn Hardcore Turkish: İki saattir kimse beni uyandırmadı, sonunda kendiliğimden uyandım. - No one has woken me for two hours; I finally woke up on my own.

It marks duration that continues up to the reference time (“for two hours now”). So iki saattir ≈ “for two hours (up to now).” You can omit it, but then iki saat more neutrally means “for two hours” and may sound like a simple past span. With -dir, the “up to now” reading is stronger.

Why is it written saattir (double t), not saatdir?

The suffix is -dir/-dır/-dür/-dur. After a voiceless consonant like t, its initial d devoices to t (→ -tir). Since saat already ends in t, you get t + tir → saattir. There’s no extra meaning in the doubling.

Can I use iki saatten beri or iki saat boyunca instead of iki saattir?

iki saatten beri = “for two hours now / since two hours ago,” highlighting the starting point. Often pairs with non-past tenses (e.g., gelmiyor), but you’ll also hear it with past in narratives.
iki saat boyunca = “throughout two hours” (a bounded span), not necessarily up to now.
All are grammatical; choose the one that matches the nuance you want.

Why is kimse used with a negative verb? Can I say hiç kimse?

Kimse appears mostly in negatives and questions. With a negative verb it means “nobody”: Kimse gelmedi. You can strengthen it with hiç: Hiç kimse beni uyandırmadı (“absolutely nobody”). In affirmative statements, use biri/birisi (“someone”) rather than kimse.

Why is it beni and not bana?

Beni is accusative (direct object) and fits the transitive verb uyandırmak (“to wake someone up”). Bana is dative (“to me”) and would be used with verbs like söylemek (“to tell”) or vermek (“to give”).

What’s the difference between uyandırmak and uyanmak?

uyanmak: intransitive “to wake up” (the subject wakes).
uyandırmak: causative “to wake (someone) up” (the subject causes someone else to wake).

How is uyandırmadı built morphologically?

uyan- (wake up) + -dır (causative) → uyandır- (wake someone)
- -ma- (negation) → uyandırma-
- -dı (simple past) → uyandırmadı (“he/she/it didn’t wake [someone] up”)

Why is the simple past (uyandırmadı) used when the time span includes now?

With duration expressions like …-dir, Turkish often uses the simple past to convey an English-like present perfect: “hasn’t … for X.” Here, “For two hours, nobody woke me up,” up to the moment you say “I finally woke up.” It’s natural Turkish.

Could I use the progressive: İki saattir kimse beni uyandırmıyor?

Grammatically yes, but it implies an ongoing/habitual situation (“no one is waking me up [repeatedly]”), which is odd for a one-off expected event like being woken once. The simple past negative is more idiomatic here. Progressive works better with verbs like aramak: İki saattir aramıyor (“He hasn’t been calling for two hours”).

What exactly does sonunda mean?

Literally “at its end”: son (end) + 3rd person possessive -u + locative -nda. Idiomatically it’s “in the end, finally.” Synonyms: nihayet, en sonunda (“at long last,” stronger). It’s not the same as sonra (“after/then”), which marks sequence.

What does kendiliğimden mean, and how is it formed? Are there alternatives?

Form: kendi (self) + -lik (noun maker) → kendilik, + 1sg poss -im → kendiliğim, + ablative -den → kendiliğimden = “of my own accord; spontaneously.”
Alternatives:
- 3rd person: kendiliğinden (“by itself/on his/her own [spontaneously]”).
- Kendim uyandım (“I myself woke up,” emphasis on the subject).
- Kendi başıma (“on my own, without help”) fits task-like actions; with uyanmak it’s possible but less idiomatic.
- Kendi kendime usually means “to myself” and sounds odd with uyanmak.

Can I say Beni kimse uyandırmadı instead of Kimse beni uyandırmadı?

Yes. Word order is flexible. Beni kimse… puts focus on “me” (as opposed to someone else). In Turkish, focused elements tend to come right before the verb.

Should the verb be plural? Why not uyandırmadılar?

Use singular. Kimse behaves like a singular indefinite subject, so the verb is 3rd singular: uyandırmadı, not uyandırmadılar.

Could I say the same idea with the passive: İki saattir uyandırılmadım?

Yes. Uyandırılmadım (“I wasn’t/ haven’t been woken up”) removes the agent. Adding kimse in the active (Kimse beni uyandırmadı) explicitly emphasizes that “nobody” did it. Both are natural; choose based on whether you want to mention the agent.

Where else can iki saattir go in the clause?

Common options (all grammatical):

İki saattir kimse beni uyandırmadı (neutral).
Kimse beni iki saattir uyandırmadı (focus on duration).
Beni kimse iki saattir uyandırmadı (focus on “me” + duration).
Duration expressions often appear early, but placement is flexible.

What does adding de/da after kimse do, as in Kimse de beni uyandırmadı?

The clitic de/da adds an “also/even” flavor and often conveys mild annoyance or emphasis: “And (even) nobody woke me up.” It’s stylistic, not required.

Any pronunciation tips for ğ and the undotted ı (as in kendiliğimden, uyandım)?

ğ (soft g) is not a hard g; it lengthens or smoothly links surrounding vowels.
ı (undotted) is a back, unrounded vowel; keep your lips relaxed/unrounded and your tongue slightly back (distinct from dotted i).