Breakdown of O gezegenin yüzeyi hem sıcak hem karanlık olurdu.
o
that / he / she / it
sıcak
hot
olmak
to be
karanlık
dark
hem
both / and (used in pairs as both... and...)
gezegen
planet
yüzey
surface
Questions & Answers about O gezegenin yüzeyi hem sıcak hem karanlık olurdu.
What tense is olurdu and why is it translated as 'would be'?
Olurdu combines the verb ol- (to be) with the aorist tense suffix -ur and the past tense suffix -du. When you add the past tense suffix to the aorist tense, it creates a hypothetical meaning ('would') or a past habit ('used to'). In this context about an imagined planet, it means 'would be'.
Wait, doesn't the aorist plus past usually mean 'used to'?
Yes, it frequently translates to 'used to' for describing past habits! However, Turkish uses this exact same structure for hypothetical situations, matching the word 'would' in English. You rely on context to know if a speaker is describing a past habit or a hypothetical scenario like this one.
Why does gezegen have the -in suffix here?
It is part of a specific possessive noun phrase. Gezegenin gets the genitive case suffix to mean 'of the planet' or 'planet's', and yüzeyi gets the possessive suffix -i to mean 'its surface'. Together, gezegenin yüzeyi specifically means 'the surface of the planet'.
How exactly does the hem ... hem ... structure work?
Hem ... hem ... translates to 'both ... and ...'. You place it directly before the words you want to emphasize and link. Here, it links the two adjectives sıcak (hot) and karanlık (dark). Notice that you do not need to use the word ve (and) anywhere in this structure.
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