Learn Hardcore Turkish: Şofben bozuk olsa bile soğuk duş almaya cesaret ediyorum. - Even if the water heater is broken, I dare to take a cold shower.

It’s quite common in everyday speech in Turkey, especially in older apartments or places without a central kombi (central heating + hot water unit).
Other words you might hear:
- kombi – the central heating / hot water boiler (very common nowadays).
- termosifon – an electric storage water heater.
- The more generic term is su ısıtıcısı (“water heater”), but in daily speech people normally say şofben or kombi depending on the device.

So in this sentence, şofben is simply “the water heater for the shower.” It’s the subject of the sentence.

What does the whole part bozuk olsa bile mean, grammatically?

Bozuk olsa bile is a concessive clause: “even if it is broken”.

Breaking it down:

bozuk – “broken, out of order” (adjective).
olsa – the conditional form of olmak (“to be”), 3rd person singular: “if it were / if it is”.
bile – “even (if)” in this context.

So:

bozuk olsa → “if (it) were broken / if (it) is broken”
bozuk olsa bile → “even if (it) is broken”

Putting it into the sentence:
Şofben bozuk olsa bile … = “Even if the water heater is broken, …”

What is the role of bile here? How is it different from -sa da / -se de?

bile adds the meaning “even” (in a concessive sense: even under that condition).

Compare:

Şofben bozuk olsa soğuk duş alırım.
“If the water heater is broken, I take a cold shower.” (plain “if”)
Şofben bozuk olsa da soğuk duş alırım.
“Even if the water heater is broken, I (still) take a cold shower.”
Here -sa da / -se de functions like “even if”.
Şofben bozuk olsa bile soğuk duş alırım.
Also “Even if the water heater is broken, I take a cold shower,” but bile puts extra emphasis on the “even” part—slightly stronger, a bit more “despite this”.

So:

-sa da / -se de alone is often enough for “even if”.
-sa bile / -se bile feels a bit more emphatic: “even if, still…”

Why do we need olsa after bozuk? Can’t we just say Şofben bozuk bile?

In this sentence, bozuk olsa is not describing a current fact, but a condition (“if it is broken”). For a condition we normally use the conditional form of olmak:

şofben bozuk – “the heater is broken” (statement of fact)
şofben bozuk olsa – “if the heater were/is broken” (hypothetical / conditional)

Adding bile after that:

şofben bozuk olsa bile – “even if the heater is broken”

If you say:

Şofben bozuk bile.

This sounds odd and incomplete, because bile wants a contrast (“even X is broken”, or “even if it’s broken…”), but you’re not giving it a clear structure.

Two correct but different options:

Şofben bile bozuk. – “Even the water heater is broken.”
Here bile modifies şofben (“even the heater”), not the condition.
Şofben bozuk olsa bile soğuk duş alıyorum. – “Even if the heater is broken, I take a cold shower.”
Here bile works with olsa (conditional).

Can I change the word order of Şofben bozuk olsa bile?

You have some flexibility, but the meaning can shift depending on where bile goes.

Acceptable variants with the same basic meaning (“even if it’s broken”):

Şofben bozuk olsa bile soğuk duş almaya cesaret ediyorum. (original)
Bozuk olsa bile şofben soğuk duş almaya cesaret ediyorum. (less natural, but possible in the right context; sounds a bit marked)

If you move bile to modify şofben, the meaning changes:

Şofben bile bozuk olsa, soğuk duş almaya cesaret ediyorum.
Now it implies: “Even the water heater is broken (in addition to other things), yet I still dare to take a cold shower.”

So the safest pattern for “even if it is broken” is:

[subject] [adjective] + ol-sa bile …
Şofben bozuk olsa bile …

How does duş almak work? Why do you “take a shower” with almak?

In Turkish, the idiomatic expression is:

duş almak – literally “to take a shower”.

This is directly parallel to English “take a shower”. You don’t say:

✗ duş yapmak
✗ duş etmek

Those would sound incorrect or at least non‑native for the usual meaning of “to shower”.

Some similar everyday collocations:

banyo yapmak – to take a bath
kahvaltı yapmak – to have breakfast
karar vermek – to make a decision
yardım etmek – to help

So in soğuk duş almak, soğuk modifies duş, and duş almak is a single idiomatic unit: “to take a cold shower”.

Why is it soğuk duş almaya cesaret ediyorum, with -maya on almak?

The structure is:

soğuk duş almak – “to take a cold shower”
soğuk duş al-ma – verbal noun: “(the act of) taking a cold shower”
soğuk duş al-ma-ya – dative case: “to taking a cold shower”

In Turkish, many verbs take another verb in the form -mA + case.
Cesaret etmek is one of them:

X yapmaya cesaret etmek – “to dare to do X / have the courage to do X”

So:

soğuk duş almaya cesaret ediyorum
= “I dare to take a cold shower / I have the courage to take a cold shower.”

Other verbs that use this pattern:

sigara içmeyi bırakmak – to quit smoking
Türkçe öğrenmeye başlamak – to start learning Turkish
ona yardım etmeye çalışmak – to try to help him/her

Could I say soğuk bir duş almaya cesaret ediyorum instead? Does bir change the meaning?

Yes, you can say:

Soğuk bir duş almaya cesaret ediyorum.

It’s perfectly correct. The nuance:

soğuk duş – generic: “a cold shower” (in general)
soğuk bir duş – slightly more specific: “one cold shower / a particular cold shower”

In practice, both are usually understood the same way in this kind of sentence. Turkish often omits bir where English uses “a”, so the version without bir is very natural and common:

soğuk duş almak ≈ “to take a cold shower” (habitually or in general)

What’s the nuance of cesaret etmek compared to just saying cesur olmak?

cesur olmak – “to be brave” (describes a personal quality, a trait).
- Çok cesurum. – “I am very brave.”
cesaret etmek – “to dare (to do something), to find the courage to do it this time.”
- Soğuk duş almaya cesaret ediyorum.
  “I dare to take a cold shower / I manage to bring myself to do it.”

So this sentence focuses on the act of daring to do that specific thing, not on your overall character.

If you said:

Şofben bozuk olsa bile cesurum.

That would mean “Even if the water heater is broken, I am brave,” which sounds odd and doesn’t directly say you actually take the shower. Cesaret etmek ties the courage directly to a concrete action.

Why is it cesaret ediyorum (present continuous) instead of cesaret ederim?

Both are grammatically correct, but they differ in nuance:

cesaret ediyorum (present continuous -yor):
- Often describes what you currently do or are willing to do in an ongoing situation.
- In this kind of sentence it can mean:
  - “I (manage to) dare to do it (in practice, as a real habit or current reality).”
cesaret ederim (aorist -r):
- More general, habitual or characteristic.
- Would sound like:
  - “I (would) dare to do it / I’m the kind of person who dares to do it.”

So:

Şofben bozuk olsa bile soğuk duş almaya cesaret ediyorum.
→ “Even if the heater is broken, I do dare to take a cold shower” (in practice, this is something I actually do).
Şofben bozuk olsa bile soğuk duş almaya cesaret ederim.
→ “Even if the heater were broken, I would dare to take a cold shower” (more hypothetical or describing your disposition).

What’s the nuance of bozuk here? Could we use words like kırık or arızalı instead?

For machines and appliances, bozuk is the most common everyday word meaning “not working, broken, out of order.”

şofben bozuk – “the water heater doesn’t work / is out of order.”

Other options:

arızalı – “faulty, defective, having a malfunction.”
- More technical/formal; sounds a bit like “it has a fault / is out of order”.
- Şofben arızalı olsa bile… is correct but more formal/technical in tone.
kırık – literally “broken” in the sense of physically broken into pieces / cracked.
- Used more for things like kırık cam (broken glass), kırık bardak (broken cup), or a kırık kol (broken arm), not typically for a heater being out of order.

So in this sentence, bozuk is exactly the natural everyday choice.