Learn Hardcore Turkish: Şofben sıcak su vermese bile soğuk duş almaya bazen cesaret ediyorum. - Even if the water heater doesn’t give hot water, sometimes I dare to take a cold shower.

Şofben is a household appliance: a domestic water heater, usually an instant (tankless) gas or electric heater that heats water as it flows through.

In English you might translate it as water heater, boiler, or geyser depending on context.
It is a fairly common everyday word in Turkish homes that don’t have central hot water.
It is not related to şoför (driver); they just happen to look a bit similar.

So the sentence starts with “When/Even if the water heater doesn’t give hot water…”.

Why is it sıcak su vermek (“to give hot water”)? Does vermek really mean “to give hot water”?

Yes, vermek literally means “to give”, but in many contexts it also means “to provide / supply / produce / output”.

In this sentence:

sıcak su vermek = to give/provide hot water → to supply hot water.

This kind of usage is very common:

Elektrik veriliyor mu? – Is electricity being supplied?
Bu musluk su vermiyor. – This tap isn’t giving water / no water comes out.

So şofben sıcak su vermese bile means “even if the water heater doesn’t supply hot water”.

How is vermese formed, and why is it vermese instead of vermezse?

Vermese is:

ver- (root “give”)
-me- (negative) → verme- (“not give”)
-se (conditional) → vermese (“if it didn’t give / even if it doesn’t give”)

So şofben sıcak su vermese literally: if the water heater didn’t give hot water.

About vermese vs vermezse:

vermezse = if it does not give (hot water) – more straightforwardly present-time.
vermese sounds a bit more hypothetical / stylistic and is often found with bile, e.g.
- Sıcak su vermese bile… – Even if it doesn’t give hot water…

In natural speech both can appear, but vermese bile is a very common fixed pattern.

What does bile mean here, and where does it go in the sentence?

Bile means “even” (in the sense of “even if / even” as an intensifier).

Placement:

It typically comes immediately after the word or phrase it emphasizes.

In the sentence:

vermese bile = even if it doesn’t give (hot water).

Some examples:

O bile geldi. – Even he came.
Yağmur yağsa bile gideceğim. – Even if it rains, I’ll go.

Here, bile emphasizes the unexpectedness of you still taking a cold shower even under the condition “no hot water”.

Why is it soğuk duş almaya and not soğuk duş almayı?

Because the verb cesaret etmek (“to dare”) in Turkish takes its complement in the dative case:

-(y)a (to) + cesaret etmek → to dare to (do something)

To express “to dare to take a cold shower”, we use a verbal noun + dative:

soğuk duş almak – to take a cold shower (dictionary form)
soğuk duş alma- (verbal noun “the act of taking a cold shower”)
soğuk duş almaya (dative) → to the act of taking a cold shower

So:

soğuk duş almaya cesaret ediyorum = I dare to take a cold shower.

If you used -ı (accusative) → soğuk duş almayı, it would suggest a different kind of verb that takes an object, like:

soğuk duş almayı seviyorum – I like taking cold showers.
(sevmek takes the accusative: -ı)

But cesaret etmek wants -(y)a, not -ı.

Can you break down soğuk duş almaya cesaret ediyorum word by word?

Yes:

soğuk – cold (adjective)
duş – shower (noun)
soğuk duş almak – to take a cold shower
(literally: to do/take a cold shower)
al-ma – verbal noun: the act of taking
al-ma-ya – to the act of taking (dative: -ya)
cesaret etmek – to dare
cesaret ed-iyor-um – I am daring / I dare (present continuous, 1st person singular)

Put together:

soğuk duş almaya cesaret ediyorum.
→ I sometimes dare to take a cold shower.

Why is there no ben in the sentence? How do we know it means “I”?

In Turkish, subject pronouns (ben, sen, o, etc.) are usually dropped unless needed for emphasis or clarity. The subject is encoded in the verb ending.

The verb here is:

ed-iyor-um:
- -yorum = 1st person singular, present continuous → I am …

So from cesaret ediyorum, it is clear that the subject is “I”.

You could say:

Ben … cesaret ediyorum.

but that would add emphasis: I (as opposed to others) sometimes dare…
In neutral sentences, ben is normally omitted.

What is the role of bazen here, and where else could it go?

Bazen means “sometimes”.

In the sentence:

… soğuk duş almaya bazen cesaret ediyorum.
It modifies the verb phrase cesaret ediyorum → I sometimes dare…

You can move bazen around for slightly different rhythms/focus, without much change in meaning:

Bazen şofben sıcak su vermese bile soğuk duş almaya cesaret ediyorum.
Şofben sıcak su vermese bile bazen soğuk duş almaya cesaret ediyorum.

All are grammatical. Common placements:

before the main clause: Bazen, şofben…
before the verb or right before its complement.

The given placement is perfectly natural.

Is the overall word order typical for Turkish? Why does the clause about the şofben come first?

Yes, this is very typical Turkish word order.

Turkish prefers to put subordinate clauses (conditions, time clauses, etc.) before the main clause.
The main verb of the main clause stays near the end.

Structure of this sentence:

Şofben sıcak su vermese bile
→ Conditional clause: Even if the water heater doesn’t give hot water
soğuk duş almaya bazen cesaret ediyorum.
→ Main clause: I sometimes dare to take a cold shower.

This “condition first, main action last” structure is extremely common in Turkish.

Could the sentence also mean “Even when the heater doesn’t give hot water” instead of “even if”?

Yes, in real-life context, vermese bile can often be understood as “even when it doesn’t” rather than a purely hypothetical “even if it didn’t”.

The literal grammar is more like:

vermese bile → even if it didn’t give / even if it doesn’t give

But in everyday usage:

Şofben sıcak su vermese bile…
is naturally understood as:
Even when the water heater doesn’t give hot water… (in those times when it doesn’t work).

So both translations are reasonable; context decides whether it feels like if or when in English.

Why use cesaret ediyorum instead of a simple “I can take a cold shower” (soğuk duş alabiliyorum)?

Because cesaret etmek adds the idea of emotional effort / courage, not just ability.

soğuk duş alabiliyorum
→ I am able to take a cold shower / I can take a cold shower (no emphasis on it being scary or unpleasant).
soğuk duş almaya cesaret ediyorum
→ I dare to take a cold shower (implies it’s difficult / requires courage).

So the original sentence emphasizes that it takes guts to take that cold shower when there’s no hot water, and you sometimes manage to do it.

What tense/aspect is cesaret ediyorum, and how would the meaning change with other tenses like cesaret ederim or cesaret ettim?

Cesaret ediyorum is present continuous:

cesaret ed-iyor-um → I am daring / I (do) dare
In Turkish, present continuous is often used for current habits or regular actions, not only for “right now”.

Possible variations:

cesaret ederim (aorist)
→ I (generally) dare / I would dare
Sounds more like a general trait or a repeated, somewhat generic habit.
cesaret ettim (simple past)
→ I dared
Refers to a specific past occasion: I dared to take a cold shower (that time).

The chosen ediyorum suggests a current, somewhat ongoing/habitual behavior: you sometimes dare to do it in your present life.

Is duş almak a fixed expression, or can I use duş yapmak or something similar?

Duş almak is the standard, natural expression for “to take a shower” in Turkish.

duş almak – to take a shower (normal)
duş yapmak – sounds odd or wrong in standard Turkish.
duşta yıkanmak – to wash (oneself) in the shower (possible, but different phrasing)

So in this sentence, soğuk duş almak (to take a cold shower) is exactly the normal and idiomatic way to say it.