Breakdown of Sanki sihir yapan bir adam görmüş gibi şaşkınsın.
bir
a / an
adam
man
yapmak
to do / to make
görmek
to see
gibi
like (similar to)
sihir
magic
sanki
as if
şaşkın
bewildered / surprised
Questions & Answers about Sanki sihir yapan bir adam görmüş gibi şaşkınsın.
Why is there no personal ending on görmüş to show that 'you' saw the man?
The structure -mIş gibi (as if... had done) doesn't take personal endings directly on the verb. Instead, it gets its subject from the main part of the sentence. Because the sentence ends with şaşkınsın (you are bewildered), we automatically know it was 'you' who supposedly saw the magic.
Why are both sanki and gibi used in this sentence? Don't they both mean 'as if'?
Yes, -mIş gibi alone is enough to mean 'as if you had seen'. Adding sanki at the beginning of the clause is a very common way to add emphasis. They often act as a pair to frame the whole comparison, even though sanki is technically optional.
How does sihir yapan work? Is yapan a specific tense?
yapan is formed with the subject participle suffix -(y)An. This suffix turns a verb into an adjective describing who or what is doing the action. So, yapmak (to do) becomes yapan (the one who does), making sihir yapan bir adam literally 'a man who does magic'.
How is the word şaşkınsın built?
It comes from the verb şaşmak (to be surprised). The suffix -kIn turns it into the adjective şaşkın (bewildered or confused). Finally, the personal ending -sın makes it 'you are bewildered'.
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