Breakdown of Farz et ki bu korku bütün hayatına hükmetti, nasıl yaşayacaksın?
bu
this
yaşamak
to live / to experience / to undergo
nasıl
how
hayat
life
korku
fear / horror
ki
that (conjunction) / so... that
bütün
all, whole
farz etmek
to suppose / to assume (hypothetically)
hükmetmek
to rule / to dominate
Questions & Answers about Farz et ki bu korku bütün hayatına hükmetti, nasıl yaşayacaksın?
Why is hükmetti written as a single word while farz et is written as two separate words?
This perfectly demonstrates the spelling rule for compound verbs with etmek. You only combine them into a single word if the original noun undergoes a sound change (a vowel dropping or a consonant doubling). The noun hüküm (judgment/rule) loses its second ü when a vowel-starting suffix or auxiliary is added, so it fuses into hükmetmek. The word farz has no sound changes, so it remains a separate word.
Why is hayat (life) in the dative case here (hayatına)?
The verb hükmetmek (to dominate, to rule over) requires its object to be in the dative case. While in English we say a fear dominates a life (direct object), in Turkish, it exerts rule to or over a life, requiring the -(y)a/-(y)e suffix.
Why use the past tense in hükmetti if we are talking about a hypothetical future situation?
In Turkish, verbs of assuming (like farz et ki or diyelim ki) are very frequently followed by the definite past tense (-di). The speaker is framing the hypothetical scenario as an already established fact—"Assume this has already happened"—before moving to the consequence, which is usually in the future tense or a conditional (nasıl yaşayacaksın).
Can you break down the exact suffixes on hayatına?
Sure! Depending on context, -ına can mean 'to his/her' or 'to your'. Here, because the second half of the sentence asks 'how will you live', we know it means 'your whole life'. The breakdown is hayat (life) + -ın (2nd person singular possessive: your) + -a (dative case).
Learn Farz et ki bu korku bütün hayatına hükmetti, nasıl yaşayacaksın and more in Turkish
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free