When you want to state a logical conclusion based on an established fact, you can use the conjunctions madem or mademki. These translate to "since," "seeing that," or "given that."
You place madem at the beginning of the clause that states the known circumstance. The second half of the sentence then reacts to that fact.
| Since you don't want to, frankly I won't force you. | Madem istemiyorsun, açıkçası seni zorlamayacağım. |
| Since the situation is bad, let's go back immediately. | Madem vaziyet kötü, hemen geri dönelim. |
Madem vs. Mademki
You will also frequently see mademki. The -ki suffix is permanently baked into the word here, and it means exactly the same thing as madem. You can use them interchangeably.
| Seeing that this problem does not concern you, please be quiet. | Mademki bu problem seni ilgilendirmiyor, lütfen sus. |
Drawing Conclusions
When using madem, you are often pivoting your approach because a situation is undeniable. To express these logical deductions, vocabulary like mantıken (logically) and nafile (futile) is highly useful.
| Logically, even arguing with him is futile. | Mantıken onunla tartışmak bile nafile. |
You can easily combine these concepts to show why a certain action is pointless given the circumstances:
| Since his morale is low, a forced smile is futile. | Madem morali bozuk, zoraki gülümsemek nafile. |
Madem with Different Tenses
Madem does not force the verb into a specific tense. It works seamlessly with any grammatical structure, including future conditionals or reported hearsay.
| Since you are going to give up on this project, striving more is meaningless. | Madem bu projeden vazgeçeceksen, daha fazla çabalamak anlamsız. |
If you are reacting to something you heard from others, you can pair madem with the reported suffix (-miş / -muş).
| Since he reportedly won't attend the meeting, why didn't he inform me personally? | Madem toplantıya katılmayacakmış, neden şahsen bana haber vermedi? |
Finally, you can also use a madem clause to justify asking a question or making a request:
| Since you are busy, can I speak with the manager? | Madem meşgulsün, müdürle konuşabilir miyim? |
