Hiç böyle inanılmaz bir tesadüf duymadım!

Questions & Answers about Hiç böyle inanılmaz bir tesadüf duymadım!

How does hiç change the meaning of the past tense verb duymadım?
By itself, duymadım just means 'I did not hear.' But when you add hiç, it focuses on your life experience up to this moment. Together, hiç ... duymadım creates the English present perfect feeling: 'I have never heard.'
Does hiç always mean 'never' when talking about past experiences?
It depends on the verb! When paired with a negative verb like duymadım, hiç means 'never'. However, if you use it in a question with a positive verb, like Hiç duydun mu?, it means 'ever' (Have you ever heard?).
Why is bir placed in the middle of the phrase, right before tesadüf?
In Turkish, the indefinite article bir goes directly before the noun it modifies, coming after any adjectives. So 'such an incredible coincidence' becomes böyle inanılmaz bir tesadüf. Putting bir at the very beginning would sound unnatural.
I see the verb inanmak (to believe) inside inanılmaz. How do those suffixes work?
It is built with two suffixes. First, -ıl makes the verb passive (inanılmak: to be believed). Then, -maz is a negative ending that turns it into an adjective. So inanılmaz literally means 'that which is not believed', which translates perfectly to 'incredible' or 'unbelievable'.

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