Breakdown of Her şeyi kaybettiğimizi anladığım zaman kahroldum.
zaman
time
anlamak
to understand
her
every
kaybetmek
to lose
şey
thing
kahrolmak
to be devastated
Questions & Answers about Her şeyi kaybettiğimizi anladığım zaman kahroldum.
In kaybettiğimizi, where does the b come from, and why is it written as one word instead of kayıp ettiğimizi?
The base words are kayıp (loss) and the auxiliary verb etmek (to do). When combined, the second vowel in kayıp drops out (vowel elision). Turkish spelling rules dictate that if a sound is lost or added when forming an auxiliary compound, it must be written as a single word. Furthermore, the p softens to a b because it is now wedged between vowels. Therefore, kayıp + etmek becomes kaybetmek.
Why is kahroldum written as a single word rather than kahır oldum?
This follows the exact same rule as kaybetmek. The noun kahır (deep sorrow/distress) is paired with the auxiliary verb olmak (to be/become). The second vowel (ı) in kahır drops out when followed by the vowel o. Because of this vowel elision, the two words fuse together into the single word kahrolmak.
Why does kaybettiğimizi end with an -i, but anladığım doesn't, even though they both use the -dık participle?
They are playing different grammatical roles. Anladığım acts as an adjective modifying zaman ("the time that I understood"), so it takes no case marker. However, kaybettiğimiz acts as a noun clause ("our having lost"). Because it is the specific thing that you understood—making it the direct object of anladığım—it requires the accusative case marker -i at the very end.
Why does şey take the accusative suffix to become şeyi here?
It is the direct object of the verb kaybetmek (What did we lose? Her şeyi). Even though "everything" sounds broad in English, Turkish treats her şey as a specific, definite grouping of things. Therefore, whenever "everything" is the direct object of a verb, it must take the accusative case marker.
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