Questions & Answers about Sahnede ilgi odağı olmaktan ürküyorum.
Why does olmaktan have the ablative ending -tan?
In Turkish, verbs related to fearing, escaping, or being spooked (like ürkmek and korkmak) require the thing you fear to take the ablative case (the -dAn ending). Since the source of the fear here is an action, we use the infinitive olmak and add -tan, forming olmaktan (literally 'from being').
Why is there an -ı at the end of odağı, and why did the k change to a ğ?
İlgi odağı is a noun compound meaning 'center of attention' (literally 'attention its-center'). When pairing two nouns like this, the second noun gets a possessive ending, which is -ı here. Because the dictionary word is odak, adding the vowel -ı causes the hard k to soften into a ğ (consonant mutation), making it odağı.
Could I use korkuyorum instead of ürküyorum here?
Yes, you could absolutely say olmaktan korkuyorum (I am afraid of being). Ürkmek is just a bit more specific; it means being spooked, startled, or shrinking back from something. Just like korkmak, ürkmek always forces the object you are scared of into the ablative case (-dAn).
Why is it sahnede (on stage) and not (to the stage)?