Breakdown of Tüccarlar sikkeleri çanakların içine saklamış olsa gerek.
olmak
to be
iç
inside
saklamak
to hide / to keep
gerek
necessary
Questions & Answers about Tüccarlar sikkeleri çanakların içine saklamış olsa gerek.
How does saklamış olsa gerek translate to "must have hidden"?
This is the structure for a strong logical deduction about the past. It combines the verb saklamak (to hide) with the evidential past suffix -mış, followed by olsa (conditional of "to be") and the necessity word gerek (necessary). Literally it means "it must be that they hid," which we translate as "must have hidden."
Since the coins are hidden "inside" the bowls, why do we use içine (dative) instead of içinde (locative)?
In Turkish, the verb saklamak (to hide) focuses on the action of moving an object into a hiding place. Because there is a destination involved, it takes the dative case -e (into). So çanakların içine literally means "into the inside of the bowls."
Is it possible to make the verb plural by saying saklamış olsalar gerek since the subject Tüccarlar is plural?
Yes, it is possible but not required. In Turkish, when a plural subject is explicitly stated in the sentence, the verb can remain singular. Saying saklamış olsa gerek is very natural, though saklamış olsalar gerek is also grammatically correct.
What does the ending on sikkeleri tell us?