Breakdown of Suikast planlamalarına rağmen büyükelçi hayatta kaldı.
kalmak
to stay / to be left / to remain (in a state)
hayat
life
planlamak
to plan
rağmen
despite / in spite of
büyükelçi
ambassador
suikast
assassination
Questions & Answers about Suikast planlamalarına rağmen büyükelçi hayatta kaldı.
How is "Despite them planning" formed in this sentence?
This uses the concessive clause structure you are learning. We take the verb root planla- (to plan) and add the short verbal noun suffix -ma. Next, we add the 3rd-person plural possessive suffix -ları (their), followed by the buffer letter -n-, and finally the dative suffix -a. The dative is required because the postposition rağmen (despite) always demands it. Altogether: planla-ma-ları-n-a rağmen.
Why isn't there a separate word for "them" or "their" in the Turkish sentence?
In Turkish, the "doer" of a verbal noun is expressed through possessive suffixes rather than subject pronouns. The suffix -ları on planlamalarına already means "their." You could put the genitive pronoun onların (their) at the beginning of the sentence for emphasis, but it is entirely optional and usually dropped.
Could "planlamalarına" also mean "despite his/her plannings"?
Yes, it is ambiguous without a pronoun! The letters -ları can act as a single 3rd-person plural possessive suffix (their planning). However, they can also be the plural suffix -lar followed by the 3rd-person singular possessive -ı (his/her plannings). Because "assassination plannings" sounds slightly awkward, "their planning" is the most natural interpretation here.
How does "hayatta kaldı" mean "survived"?
This is a very common Turkish idiom. Hayatta means "in life" (the noun hayat plus the locative case -ta), and kaldı is the past tense of kalmak (to stay / to remain). Literally, the ambassador "stayed in life," which is how Turkish expresses surviving.
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