Word
Eğer sağa dönmezsek, kesinlikle bir çıkmaza doğru gideceğiz.
Meaning
If we don't turn right, we will definitely go towards a dead end.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Eğer sağa dönmezsek, kesinlikle bir çıkmaza doğru gideceğiz.
bir
a / an
gitmek
to go
dönmek
to return
sağ
right
Questions & Answers about Eğer sağa dönmezsek, kesinlikle bir çıkmaza doğru gideceğiz.
Why is there an -a added to çıkmaz before doğru?
To say "towards" a place, the postposition doğru requires the noun before it to take the dative case (ending in -a or -e). Since çıkmaz ends in a consonant and its last vowel is "a", it takes -a, making the phrase bir çıkmaza doğru (towards a dead end).
How is the word dönmezsek broken down?
It is built from dön (turn) + mez (negative aorist suffix) + se (if) + k (we). Using the negative aorist with the conditional is the standard way to say "if we don't do" something.
Is Eğer required here to mean "if"?
No, Eğer is optional. The actual "if" meaning comes from the conditional suffix -se in dönmezsek. Adding Eğer at the beginning just adds emphasis and lets the listener know early on that a condition is coming.
Why does çıkmaz mean "dead end"? It looks like a verb ending.
You are right! Çıkmaz is originally the negative aorist (simple present) form of çıkmak (to exit), so it literally means "it does not exit". Over time, it became a fixed noun describing a street with no way out or a problem with no solution.