Kusura bakma, seni duyamadım.

you

Breakdown of Kusura bakma, seni duyamadım.

• duyabilmek: to be able to hear
• kusura bakma: sorry

Questions & Answers about Kusura bakma, seni duyamadım.

What does kusura bakma literally mean?

Literally, it is something like don’t look at the fault or don’t see it as a fault.

But as a fixed expression, kusura bakma means things like:

• sorry
• forgive me
• don’t take it the wrong way
• please excuse me

So in this sentence, it works as a natural apology before explaining: Sorry, I couldn’t hear you.

Why is bakma used here if bakmak normally means to look?

Yes, bakmak usually means to look. But in Turkish, some expressions use verbs in ways that do not translate word-for-word into English.

In kusura bakma, the idea is roughly:

• kusur = fault, defect, blame
• bakmak = to look at, regard
• kusura bakma = don’t regard it as a fault / don’t blame me

So even though bakmak usually means to look, here it is part of a set phrase that simply means sorry or excuse me.

Why is it kusura and not just kusur?