Breakdown of Sınava daha çok çalışsaymış, o üniversiteyi kazanırmış.
o
that / he / she / it
çok
a lot of / many
çalışmak
to work / to study
daha
more
Questions & Answers about Sınava daha çok çalışsaymış, o üniversiteyi kazanırmış.
What is the difference between çalışsaymış and çalışsaydı in this context?
Çalışsaydı is a standard past unreal conditional meaning "if he had studied." Adding the reported suffix -mış to make çalışsaymış adds a hearsay or reported layer. It means "I heard that if he had studied..." or "Apparently, if he had studied..."
How does the ending on kazanırmış translate to "they say he would have"?
The verb combines the aorist suffix -ır (used for "would" in the result clause of a conditional) with the reported suffix -mış. While kazanırdı states "he would have won" as your own thought, kazanırmış indicates that this assumed outcome is just what you've heard from someone else.
Why does kazanmak (to win) mean "gotten into" here, and why does it take the accusative case (üniversiteyi)?
In Turkish, getting accepted into a school, degree program, or passing an entrance exam is expressed with the verb kazanmak (to win/earn). Because the sentence points to a specific university (o üniversite), it requires the definite accusative suffix -yi.
Why does sınav take the dative suffix -a (sınava)?