Breakdown of Suçlu, bunu kasten yaptığını itiraf etti.
bu
this
yapmak
to do / to make
suçlu
criminal
kasten
intentionally / on purpose
Questions & Answers about Suçlu, bunu kasten yaptığını itiraf etti.
How does yaptığını translate to 'that he did'?
This is the core of the current lesson! The verb root yap (do) takes the factive suffix -tık, which softens to -tığ. Then we add the 3rd person possessive -ı to mean 'his doing'. Finally, we need the accusative case suffix -ı (separated by the buffer -n-) because the entire action is the direct object of the main verb itiraf etti (confessed). Literally, the structure translates to 'confessed his doing'.
Could yaptığını also mean 'that you did'?
Yes, it could! The spelling is exactly the same for 'your doing' (yap + -tığın + -ı) and 'his/her doing' (yap + -tığı + -n- + -ı). Here, context tells us it means 'that he did' because a criminal is typically confessing their own crime. If the speaker wanted to clearly say 'confessed that YOU did it', they would likely add the pronoun senin before yaptığını.
Why is the accusative suffix needed on bunu?
Even though it is inside a clause, bu (this) is the direct object of the verb inside that clause, which is yapmak (to do). Because the criminal is doing 'this specific thing', the word takes the accusative case suffix -u (with the buffer -n-), becoming bunu.