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Bazen ne kadar ilerlediğimizi unuttuğumuzu fark ediyorum.

Bazen ne kadar ilerlediğimizi unuttuğumuzu fark ediyorum.
Sometimes I notice that we forget how much we have progressed.

Breakdown of Bazen ne kadar ilerlediğimizi unuttuğumuzu fark ediyorum.

bazen
sometimes
unutmak
to forget
ne kadar
how much
ilerlemek
to progress
fark etmek
to notice
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Questions & Answers about Bazen ne kadar ilerlediğimizi unuttuğumuzu fark ediyorum.

Why is the Turkish word order so different from English here?

Turkish is a SOV (Subject–Object–Verb) language, and subordinate clauses usually come before the main verb.

Literally, the structure of the sentence is something like:

  • Bazen – Sometimes
  • [ne kadar ilerlediğimizi] – how far we have progressed
  • [unuttuğumuzu] – that we forget
  • fark ediyorum – I realize

So in Turkish, you typically get:

[embedded clause(s)] + main verb

instead of English:

main verb + (that) + embedded clause

That’s why all the -dığ- forms (the “that…” clauses) stand before fark ediyorum. The main verb (fark ediyorum) comes last.

What exactly does ilerlediğimizi mean, piece by piece?

ilerlediğimizi is a verb turned into a noun clause with person and case on it.

Breakdown:

  • ilerle- – to advance, to progress
  • -diğ- – nominalizing suffix (turns the verb into “the fact that … advanced”)
  • -imiz – our / we (1st person plural marker attached to the clause)
  • -i – accusative case (object marker)

So:

  • ilerlediğimiz = that we have progressed / how far we have come
  • ilerlediğimizi = that we have progressed as an object (something we forget)

It functions as the object of the verb unutmak inside the larger structure.

What does unuttuğumuzu mean, morphologically?

unuttuğumuzu is built in a very similar way.

Breakdown:

  • unut- – to forget
  • -tuğ- – same -dığ- nominalizer, but with consonant harmony (t instead of d)
  • -umuz – our / we (1st person plural marker)
  • -u – accusative case (object marker)

So:

  • unuttuğumuz = that we forget
  • unuttuğumuzu = that we forget as an object (something I realize)

This whole chunk “ne kadar ilerlediğimizi unuttuğumuzu” is the object of fark ediyorum:

  • (Ben) bazen [ne kadar ilerlediğimizi unuttuğumuzu] fark ediyorum.
    → Sometimes I realize [that we forget how far we’ve come].
Why do both ilerlediğimizi and unuttuğumuzu look “past” (with -di/-du), even though the meaning is more like present or present perfect?

The -dık / -dik / -duk / -dük / -tık / -tik / -tuk / -tük family (here as -diğ- / -tuğ-) is not really a past tense in this usage.

Here it’s a nominalization suffix, turning verbs into “the fact that …” clauses:

  • ilerle-diğ-imiz → the fact that we (have) progressed
  • unut-tuğ-umuz → the fact that we forget / have forgotten

The time reference is usually determined by:

  • the context, and
  • the main verb (fark ediyorum – present progressive)

So even though you see a form that looks like past, in this construction it is a clause-forming suffix, not a simple past tense marker. That’s why the English translation comes out as “have progressed / forget / have forgotten”, not simple past.

Why do ilerlediğimizi and unuttuğumuzu both end in -i / -u? What is that doing?

That -i / -u is the accusative case marker, showing that the whole clause is a direct object.

  • unutmak (to forget) usually takes an object in the accusative:
    • bunu unutuyorum – I forget this
  • fark etmek (to realize / notice) usually takes an object in the accusative:
    • bunu fark ediyorum – I realize this

When the object is a whole clause, the accusative ending is attached to the last word of that clause, which here is the nominalized verb:

  • ne kadar ilerlediğimiz → “how far we’ve progressed”
    • -i → ne kadar ilerlediğimizi (object of unutmak)
  • ne kadar ilerlediğimizi unuttuğumuz → “the fact that we forget how far we’ve progressed”
    • -u → ne kadar ilerlediğimizi unuttuğumuzu (object of fark etmek)
How are the subjects “we” and “I” expressed? There are no separate pronouns.

Turkish often drops subject pronouns and marks the subject in the verb ending.

  1. ilerlediğimiz

    • -imiz → “we / our” (1st person plural)
      So the subject of ilerlemek here is “we”.

  2. unuttuğumuz

    • -umuz → “we / our” (1st person plural)
      The subject of unutmak is also “we”.

  3. fark ediyorum

    • -yorum → “I” (1st person singular, present continuous)
      The subject of fark etmek is “I”.

So the structure is:

  • We have progressed (ilerlediğimiz)
  • We forget (unuttuğumuz)
  • I realize (fark ediyorum)
What is fark ediyorum? Why two words instead of one?

fark etmek is a light-verb construction:

  • fark – “difference, distinction”
  • etmek – “to do, to make”

Together: fark etmek → “to notice, to realize”.

Grammar points:

  • It is written as two words in standard Turkish: fark etmek, fark ediyorum, fark ettim, etc.
  • In speech you may hear or see it run together (e.g. farkediyorum), but that’s not standard spelling.

In this sentence:

  • fark ediyorum = I realize / I notice
    • fark et- (verb stem)
    • -iyor (present continuous)
    • -um (1st person singular)
Could we say “Bazen ne kadar ilerlediğimizi unutuyoruz” instead? What changes?

Yes, that’s a perfectly fine sentence, but the meaning changes slightly.

  • Bazen ne kadar ilerlediğimizi unutuyoruz.
    → Sometimes we forget how far we’ve come.

This is a simple main-clause statement about our behavior.

The original:

  • Bazen ne kadar ilerlediğimizi unuttuğumuzu fark ediyorum.
    → Sometimes I realize that we forget how far we’ve come.

Here the focus is on my realization (I become aware that this forgetting happens). It’s one level more “meta”:

  • Version 1: We forget.
  • Original: I realize (that) we forget.
What does bazen do here? Can it move to another position?

bazen means “sometimes” and is an adverb of frequency.

In Turkish it’s quite flexible in position. In this sentence it comes first:

  • Bazen ne kadar ilerlediğimizi unuttuğumuzu fark ediyorum.

You could also say:

  • Ne kadar ilerlediğimizi bazen unuttuğumuzu fark ediyorum.
  • Ne kadar ilerlediğimizi unuttuğumuzu bazen fark ediyorum.

All are grammatically correct. The default, neutral place is often near the beginning of the sentence, so the original word order is very natural.

The meaning (“sometimes”) does not really change, but placing bazen later can sound slightly more emphatic or stylistically marked.

Why is it ne kadar ilerlediğimizi and not a question like ne kadar ilerledik?

In Turkish, question words like ne, ne kadar, kim, nerede, etc. can be used:

  • in real questions, or
  • inside embedded clauses (“indirect questions” / “how much we …”, “who did …”, etc.).

Here, ne kadar ilerlediğimizi is not a direct question. It’s a noun clause:

  • ne kadar – how much / how far
  • ilerlediğimiz – that we have progressed
  • ne kadar ilerlediğimiz – how far we have progressed (= the degree to which we’ve advanced)

Then it gets the accusative:

  • ne kadar ilerlediğimizi – how far we have progressed (as an object)

So even though it contains a question word, it’s functioning as a statement-like clause, the thing that we forget.

If I want to say “Sometimes I realize that I forget how far I’ve come” (I, not we), what would change?

You would need to make the embedded subjects singular instead of plural:

  • Bazen ne kadar ilerlediğimi unuttuğumu fark ediyorum.

Changes:

  1. ilerlediğimizi → ilerlediğimi

    • -imizi (our / we) → -imi (my / I)

  2. unuttuğumuzu → unuttuğumu

    • -umuzu (our / we) → -umu (my / I)

Now all three clauses have “I” as the subject:

  • I have progressed (ilerlediğim)
  • I forget (unuttuğum)
  • I realize (fark ediyorum)
Is there an alternative verb to fark etmek here, like farkına varmak? Would the sentence still be natural?

Yes, you can use farkına varmak (literally “to come to its awareness”) with a very similar meaning.

A natural version:

  • Bazen ne kadar ilerlediğimizi unuttuğumuzun farkına varıyorum.

Notice two changes:

  1. farkına varmak wants its complement in -ın / -in / -un / -ün (genitive) rather than with the direct accusative:

    • unuttuğumuzun (genitive) instead of unuttuğumuzu (accusative).

  2. farkına varıyorum instead of fark ediyorum.

Meaning remains very close: Sometimes I become aware that we forget how far we’ve come.