Learn Turkish: Bu imparatorluk hem zengin hem güçlüymüş. - This empire was apparently both rich and powerful.

Bu imparatorluk hem zengin hem güçlüymüş.

This empire was apparently both rich and powerful.

Breakdown of Bu imparatorluk hem zengin hem güçlüymüş.

both / and (used in pairs as both... and...)

Questions & Answers about Bu imparatorluk hem zengin hem güçlüymüş.

Why use -müş in güçlüymüş instead of the regular past tense -dü (güçlüydü)?

The suffix -miş (or -müş here) is used for reported or inferred information. Since the speaker didn't live during this empire to see it firsthand, they are reporting what they learned from history books or stories. It translates well to 'was apparently' or 'is said to have been'.

Why is there a y before the -müş?

The adjective güçlü (powerful) ends in a vowel. When attaching the -miş copula to a word ending in a vowel, you must insert the buffer letter -y- to connect them, resulting in güçlüymüş.

Why doesn't zengin (rich) also get the -miş suffix?

In Turkish, when you have a list of adjectives that apply to the same subject, you only need to attach the 'to be' ending to the very last one. The -müş on güçlüymüş automatically applies to zengin as well.

How does the hem... hem... phrase work here?

The phrase hem ... hem ... translates directly to 'both ... and ...'. It is used to emphasize that two things are true at the same time: the empire was both rich (hem zengin) and powerful (hem güçlü).