Breakdown of Aldığını bozdurdu ama kâr küçük bir tutarmış.
bir
a / an
küçük
small
almak
to take, to buy
ama
but
tutar
amount
bozdurmak
to exchange money / to cash in
kâr
profit
Questions & Answers about Aldığını bozdurdu ama kâr küçük bir tutarmış.
How does aldığını mean what he bought without a noun attached?
This is a headless relative clause. We start with the verb almak (to buy) and add the participle suffix -dık plus the 3rd-person possessive -ı to make aldığı (the thing he bought). By leaving out the noun (like gold or dollars), the participle stands in for the noun itself.
What is the second -ı doing at the end of aldığını?
That is the accusative case marker. The full breakdown is al-dık-ı-n-ı. It has the possessive -ı (his bought thing), a buffer -n-, and the accusative -ı. The accusative is needed because the entire phrase what he bought acts as the specific direct object of the verb bozdurdu.
Why use bozdurdu here? Doesn't bozmak mean to break?
Literally, bozmak means to break or spoil. But in financial contexts, it is the standard verb for breaking a large bill, exchanging foreign currency, or cashing in gold. With the causative suffix -dur, bozdurmak means to have that money or gold cashed out or exchanged.
Why does tutarmış end with -mış instead of the regular past tense -tı?
The suffix -mış here is the evidential past tense attached to a noun phrase (küçük bir tutar). It adds the nuance that the speaker realized or learned this information after the fact, which translates nicely to was apparently or turned out to be a small amount.
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