Breakdown of Hiçbir şey görmedik, pusulaya bakmak lazımdı.
görmek
to see
bakmak
to look
şey
thing
hiçbir
no / not any (determiner)
Questions & Answers about Hiçbir şey görmedik, pusulaya bakmak lazımdı.
How do we form 'it was necessary to look' in this sentence?
We use the infinitive verb bakmak (to look) followed by lazımdı (it was necessary). Lazımdı is just the word lazım (necessary) plus the past tense ending -dı. Together, bakmak lazımdı means 'it was necessary to look' in a general sense.
Why is it pusulaya and not just pusula?
The verb bakmak (to look) always requires a target or direction, which means it takes the dative case (to/towards). We add the buffer letter -y- and the dative ending -a to pusula (compass), making it pusulaya (at/to the compass).
Since hiçbir şey means 'nothing', why is the verb görmedik negative? Doesn't that make a double negative?
Yes, and that is required in Turkish! Words like hiçbir şey (nothing / anything) must always be paired with a negative verb. So Hiçbir şey görmedik literally means 'We didn't see nothing,' which is the correct way to say 'We didn't see anything.'
Does bakmak lazımdı specifically mean 'we had to look'?