Learn Turkish: Takımın işbirliği sayesinde oyunu kazandık. - Thanks to the team's cooperation, we won the game.

Takımın işbirliği sayesinde oyunu kazandık.

Thanks to the team's cooperation, we won the game.

Breakdown of Takımın işbirliği sayesinde oyunu kazandık.

thanks to (positive attribution)

Questions & Answers about Takımın işbirliği sayesinde oyunu kazandık.

How does sayesinde fit into the grammar of this sentence?

Sayesinde is a postposition used for positive causes, translating to "thanks to." It follows the entire noun phrase takımın işbirliği (the team's cooperation). It simply comes right after the thing that caused the positive outcome.

Could I use yüzünden instead of sayesinde here?

Grammatically yes, but the meaning would become strangely negative. Yüzünden means "because of" but is used to place blame (like saying "it is the fault of"). Since winning the game is a good thing, we use sayesinde. If you used yüzünden, it would sound like you are complaining about winning!

Why does işbirliği end with a ğ instead of a k?

The base word for "cooperation" is işbirlik (which comes from iş + birlik). Because we are saying "the team's cooperation" (takımın işbirliği), we add the possessive suffix -i to link it to the team. When this vowel is added, the final hard k softens to a ğ.

Why is there an -u at the end of oyunu?

It takes the accusative case suffix -u because it is a specific direct object. You are saying we won the game (a specific game that is known to the speaker and listener), rather than just "game" in general.