Breakdown of İmparatorluğun ordusu dev gibiymiş.
gibi
like (similar to)
dev
giant
imparatorluk
empire
ordu
army
Questions & Answers about İmparatorluğun ordusu dev gibiymiş.
How does -miş work in gibiymiş, and why is there a y?
-miş is the reported past suffix. When attached to gibi (like), it adds the meaning "was apparently like" or "I heard it was like." Because gibi ends in a vowel, we must add the buffer letter -y- before the suffix, creating gibiymiş.
Why are there suffixes on both İmparatorluk and ordu?
This is a possessive compound showing ownership. İmparatorluk (empire) gets the genitive suffix -un to mean "the empire's," and ordu (army) gets the possessive suffix -su to mean "its army." Because ordu ends in a vowel, it needs the buffer letter -s- before the -u.
The dictionary word for empire is İmparatorluk. Why does it have a ğ in this sentence?
This is due to consonant mutation. When you add a suffix starting with a vowel (like the -un suffix here) to a word ending in k, that hard k softens into a ğ to make it easier to pronounce.
Is dev gibi a common way to say "gigantic"?