Questions & Answers about Emin oldum ve sana söyledim.
Why does this use oldum for "became" instead of just saying "I was sure"?
The verb olmak means "to become" or "to be". Here, emin oldum emphasizes the action of becoming sure. If you just wanted to describe the past state "I was sure" without the action of becoming, you would attach the past tense directly to the adjective and say emindim.
Why is it sana and not sen?
The verb söylemek (to tell) requires the dative case to show who you are speaking to. When you add the dative ending (which gives the meaning "to" or "towards") to the pronoun sen (you), it changes irregularly to sana (to you).
Why does the past tense ending look different in oldum and söyledim?
This happens because of 4-way vowel harmony. The past tense suffix changes to match the last vowel of the verb root. The root ol- has an "o", so it takes -du to make oldu. The root söyle- ends in "e", so it takes -di to make söyledi. Both verbs then get the -m ending to show the subject is "I".
Could I put Ben (I) at the start of this sentence?
You could, but it is completely optional. The -m at the end of both oldum and söyledim already makes it perfectly clear that the subject is "I". In Turkish, you usually leave out pronouns like Ben unless you want to put special emphasis on yourself.
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