Elektrik kesilirse mum yakarız; geçen hafta da bir mum yetmemişti.

Literally, it means something like if the electricity gets cut.

In natural English, you would usually say:

• if the power goes out
• if the electricity is cut off

The verb here is kesilmek, which literally means to be cut or to get cut off. With elektrik, it is a very common way to talk about a power outage.

So:

• elektrik = electricity
• kesilmek = to be cut off
• elektrik kesilmek = for the power to go out

Kesilirse contains the conditional ending -se / -sa, so it means if it gets cut off.

Breakdown:

• kesil- = be cut off
• -ir = aorist/general tense marker
• -se = if

So:

• kesilir = it gets cut off / it is cut off / it tends to get cut off
• kesilirse = if it gets cut off

In Turkish, this is a very common way to form an if-clause.

Because the meaning is the electricity gets cut off, not someone cuts the electricity.

• kesmek = to cut
• kesilmek = to be cut / to get cut off

With power, water, internet, etc., Turkish often uses this passive/intransitive-looking form:

• Elektrik kesildi. = The power went out.
• Su kesildi. = The water was cut off.
• İnternet kesildi. = The internet went out / got disconnected.

So kesilmek is the natural choice.

Yakarız is in the aorist, which often expresses:

• habits
• general truths
• what people normally do
• likely responses in conditionals

Breakdown:

• yak- = burn/light
• -ar = aorist marker
• -ız = we

So yakarız means we light or we would light.

In this sentence, it does not mean only a present-time action. It means something more general:

• If the power goes out, we light a candle.
• In natural English: If the power goes out, we’ll light a candle or we light candles when the power goes out.

The aorist is very common in this kind of if X happens, we do Y sentence.

Because yakmak can mean both:

• to burn
• to light / set fire to

With things like candles, lamps, cigarettes, stoves, etc., yakmak often means to light.

Examples:

• mum yakmak = to light a candle
• sigara yakmak = to light a cigarette
• sobayı yakmak = to light the stove

So mum yakarız is the normal Turkish expression for we light a candle.

Because the sentence is talking about the action in a general way, not about specific candles.

• mum yakarız = we light candles / we light a candle
• mumları yakarız = we light the candles

Without a plural marker or a definite ending, Turkish can be more general than English. Depending on context, mum yakarız may sound like:

• we light a candle
• we light candles

Here, the next clause mentions bir mum specifically, so the idea is probably we light a candle.

Geçen hafta means last week.

The da here means too / also.

So:

• geçen hafta da = last week too / also last week

It connects the second clause to the first one. The meaning is something like:

• If the power goes out, we light a candle; and last week too, one candle wasn’t enough.

In smoother English, you might say:

• If the power goes out, we light a candle; in fact, last week one candle wasn’t enough either.

So da adds the sense of also / as well / too.

It means one candle had not been enough.

The key verb is yetmek, which means:

• to be enough
• to suffice

So:

• Bir mum yetti. = One candle was enough.
• Bir mum yetmedi. = One candle was not enough.
• Bir mum yetmemişti. = One candle had not been enough.

This tells us that, in that past situation, one candle was insufficient.

Yetmemişti breaks down like this:

• yet- = be enough
• -me- = negation
• -miş = one past layer
• -ti = another past layer

Together, -mişti often works like a past perfect in English:

• had been
• had done
• had not been enough

So:

• yetmemişti = had not been enough

In many contexts, -mişti gives a sense of something that was already the case at that past time.

A useful comparison:

• yetmedi = was not enough
• yetmemişti = had not been enough

The second one sounds a little more like looking back on an already completed past situation.

Not necessarily.

It is true that -miş by itself often has meanings like:

• reported information
• inferred information
• realization after the fact

But in -mişti, the combination often functions more like a past perfect/narrative past and does not always strongly emphasize hearsay.

So here, yetmemişti is best understood simply as:

• had not been enough

without assuming that the speaker only heard about it from someone else.

Because bir here means one / a.

So:

• mum = candle
• bir mum = one candle / a candle

The speaker is being specific about the quantity: one candle wasn’t enough.

That matters because it suggests that they may have needed more than one candle.

It is mainly a general statement about what we do in that situation, but in English it can also sound future-like.

So depending on context, you could understand it as:

• If the power goes out, we light a candle.
• If the power goes out, we’ll light a candle.

Turkish often uses the aorist in these conditionals where English may choose either simple present or will.

Yes, that would also be possible.

• Elektrik kesilirse = if the power goes out
• Elektrik kesilince = when the power goes out / whenever the power goes out

The difference is subtle:

• -irse/-arsa is more clearly conditional
• -ince/-ınca often means when or whenever

So:

• Elektrik kesilirse mum yakarız = If the power goes out, we light a candle.
• Elektrik kesilince mum yakarız = When the power goes out, we light a candle.

Both can work, but kesilirse matches the English-style if idea more directly.

The semicolon links two closely related ideas:

1. a general rule: If the power goes out, we light a candle
2. a specific example from the past: last week too, one candle had not been enough

So the second clause supports or adds to the first.

You could also write it with a comma or a full stop, but the semicolon nicely shows that the ideas are connected.

A natural English version would be something like:

• If the power goes out, we light a candle; last week, one candle wasn’t enough either.
• If the electricity goes off, we light a candle; in fact, last week one candle wasn’t enough.

So the sentence combines:

• a usual response to power cuts
• a past example that adds extra detail or emphasis