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

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

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

• bir: one
• -se: if
• elektrik: the electricity
• geçen hafta: last week

Questions & Answers about Elektrik kesilirse mum yakarız; geçen hafta da bir mum yetmemişti.

What does Elektrik kesilirse literally mean?

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

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Why is it kesilirse and not just kesilir?

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.

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Why is the verb kesilmek used here instead of kesmek?