Breakdown of Tehlikeyi beklemiyorduk, iyi ki polis bizi uyardı.
biz
we
polis
police officer
beklemek
to wait
tehlike
danger
uyarmak
to warn
iyi ki
fortunately / it is a good thing that
Questions & Answers about Tehlikeyi beklemiyorduk, iyi ki polis bizi uyardı.
How does "iyi ki" work in this sentence?
The phrase iyi ki means "fortunately" or "it's a good thing that." It is an evaluative marker used to express relief or happiness about an event. Notice that it simply sits in front of a regular, fully conjugated verb phrase (polis bizi uyardı) without requiring any special grammatical changes to the verb itself.
Why does "tehlike" have the "-yi" suffix in this sentence?
The word tehlike (danger) takes the accusative case suffix -i (with a buffer -y-) to become tehlikeyi because it is the specific direct object of the verb beklemiyorduk (we were not expecting). This makes it "the danger" rather than just "danger in general."
Can you break down the suffixes in "beklemiyorduk"?
Certainly! It comes from the verb beklemek (to wait / to expect). It combines the root bekle-, the negative suffix -mi (where the original 'e' narrows to 'i' before -yor), the continuous suffix -yor, the past tense suffix -du, and the "we" ending -k. Together they form the negative past continuous tense: "we were not expecting."
Why use "bizi" instead of "biz"?
Bizi is the accusative form of biz (we). Because "us" is the direct object receiving the action of the verb uyardı (warned), it requires the accusative case ending -i. The police warned us, so it must be bizi.
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