Breakdown of Hükümetin bu vaadi tuttuğunu biliyorum.
bu
this
bilmek
to know
tutmak
to catch / to hold
hükümet
government
Questions & Answers about Hükümetin bu vaadi tuttuğunu biliyorum.
Why does the word vaadi (from vaat) take the suffix -i instead of -ı, and why does the t change to d?
Vaat (promise or pledge) is an Arabic loanword. In Turkish, some of these loanwords take front-vowel suffixes (like -i) even when their last vowel is a back vowel (like a). Additionally, the final t softens to d when a vowel suffix is added, just like in many native Turkish words. So, vaat plus the accusative -i becomes vaadi.
Why is it hükümetin (with the genitive suffix -in) instead of just hükümet?
In English, we say 'I know that the government...'. In Turkish, this is formed as a noun clause acting like a possessed object: literally 'the government's keeping of this pledge'. The subject of this type of clause always takes the genitive case (-in), linking it to the possessive suffix on the verb (tuttuğ-u).
Can you break down the suffixes on tuttuğunu?
Sure! The root is tut- (to hold or keep). We add the participle -duk (which becomes -tuğ due to consonant mutation). Then comes the 3rd-person possessive -u ('its', linking back to hükümetin). Finally, we add the buffer -n- and the accusative case -u because this whole action is the direct object of the main verb biliyorum.