Word
Benzin almadığı için yolda kalmıştır.
Meaning
He must be stranded on the road because he didn't get gas.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Benzin almadığı için yolda kalmıştır.
almak
to take, to buy
kalmak
to stay / to be left / to remain (in a state)
yol
road
için
for
Questions & Answers about Benzin almadığı için yolda kalmıştır.
Why does kalmıştır mean 'must be stranded'? I thought -tır was used for absolute facts.
When added to nouns or adjectives, -tır (or -dır) often states a general or encyclopedic fact. However, in this lesson's topic, when it is attached to a conjugated verb like the -mış past tense, it expresses a strong assumption or probability. It is how Turkish conveys 'must have' or 'must be'.
Is yolda kalmak a specific idiom?
Yes. Literally it translates to 'to stay/remain on the road', but it is the standard Turkish idiom for being stranded, getting stuck during a journey, or having a vehicle break down.
Why do we use almadığı için instead of just almadı için for 'because he didn't get'?
In Turkish, you cannot put a regular past tense verb like almadı directly before the postposition için. You have to use a participle to turn the verb into a noun-like form first. Here, that is done using the negative participle -madık plus the 3rd-person possessive suffix -ı, turning it into almadığı (literally 'his not getting').
Is benzin almak the usual way to say 'getting gas'?
Yes. While almak means 'to take' or 'to buy', it is the most standard, natural verb used in Turkish to talk about getting gas or filling up a tank at a gas station.