Deprem bütün şehri sarsacak kadar güçlüydü.
The earthquake was strong enough to shake the whole city.
Breakdown of Deprem bütün şehri sarsacak kadar güçlüydü.
güçlü
strong
şehir
city
kadar
as ... as; until, up to
deprem
earthquake
Questions & Answers about Deprem bütün şehri sarsacak kadar güçlüydü.
How does sarsacak kadar mean "enough to shake"?
The pattern [verb] + -(y)AcAk kadar literally means "to the extent that it will [verb]." Here, sarsacak is the verb sarsmak (to shake) with the future suffix -acak. Combined with kadar (as much as / to the extent of), it translates smoothly to "enough to shake" or "so much that it would shake" in English.
Could I use the infinitive and say sarsmak kadar instead?
No, to express "enough to [do an action]" or "to the point of [doing an action]", Turkish specifically requires the future participle -(y)AcAk before kadar. Using an infinitive like sarsmak kadar doesn't work for this grammar point; the -acak suffix is needed to show the potential result of the earthquake's strength.
Why is the word for city written as şehri and not şehiri?
The base word for city is şehir. However, it belongs to a common group of two-syllable Turkish loanwords that drop their second vowel when a suffix starting with a vowel is added. Because "the whole city" is the specific, definite object being shaken, it must take the accusative case suffix -i. Therefore, şehir + -i becomes şehri.
Why does güçlüydü come at the very end of the sentence?