Bu belgenin sahte olduğu kanıtlandı.

to be

Breakdown of Bu belgenin sahte olduğu kanıtlandı.

• bu: this
• belge: the document
• kanıtlanmak: to be proven

Questions & Answers about Bu belgenin sahte olduğu kanıtlandı.

Why is belgenin in the -in form?

Because belgenin is the subject of the embedded clause sahte olduğu.

In Turkish, when you turn a clause into a noun-like phrase with -DIK forms such as olduğu, the subject of that clause is usually marked with the genitive:

• bu belge = this document
• bu belgenin sahte olduğu = that this document is fake

So:

• belge = document
• belgenin = of the document / the document’s

Here it does not literally mean possession in English. It is part of a very common Turkish pattern:

• X-in Y olduğu = the fact that X is Y

---

What exactly does olduğu mean here?

Olduğu comes from olmak = to be / to become.

In this sentence, sahte olduğu means:

• that it is fake
• its being fake
• the fact that it is fake

So olduğu is not just a simple past form of olmak. It is a nominalized form, meaning it turns the clause into something noun-like.

You can think of:

• sahte = fake
• sahte olduğu = being fake / that it is fake

---