Learn Turkish: Zebra korktu mu kaplanın yaklaşıyor olması kesin. - Once the zebra is scared, it is certain that the tiger is approaching.

When the question particle mI follows a past tense verb, it doesn't ask a question. Instead, it creates a time or conditional clause meaning "once," "as soon as," or "if." Here, Zebra korktu mu means "Once the zebra is scared" or "If the zebra gets scared."

Why use the past tense (korktu) to talk about a general fact (a zebra getting scared)?

In the "Verb + DI + mI" structure meaning "once" or "as soon as," the verb is always in the past definite tense, even for general or future situations. It logically treats the condition as a completed trigger for the main clause: "Once it has gotten scared..."

How does "yaklaşıyor olması" work here?

This is our current lesson structure. To say "the fact that it is approaching," we combine the continuous verb yaklaşıyor with the verbal noun olması (its being). This lets us keep the ongoing, continuous feeling of the action while turning it into a noun phrase that can be the subject of the word kesin (certain).

Why does "kaplan" have the genitive suffix "-ın" (kaplanın)?

It forms a possessive relationship with the noun clause. Literally, the second half of the sentence is "the tiger's (approaching's) being is certain." Because olması has a possessive ending (the -sı), the subject doing the approaching (the tiger) must take the genitive ending -ın.