Breakdown of Hain korkuyordu, yine de ölmek pahasına savaştı.
korkmak
to fear
de
too, also (de/da) / even if (concessive particle after conditional) / and (linking clauses)
yine
again
ölmek
to die
savaşmak
to fight (in a war)
pahasına
at the cost of
hain
traitor
Questions & Answers about Hain korkuyordu, yine de ölmek pahasına savaştı.
Why do we use the plain infinitive ölmek before pahasına instead of a possessive verbal noun like ölmenin?
The phrase pahasına (at the cost of) pairs directly with the standard -mAk infinitive when the person taking the risk is the same as the subject of the main action. Since the traitor is the one both dying and fighting, we just use the bare infinitive ölmek.
What is the exact suffix breakdown of the word pahasına?
The root is the noun paha, meaning "price" or "value" (you might recognize it from pahalı, meaning expensive). It takes the 3rd-person possessive suffix -sı to link it to the dying ("the price of dying"), followed by the buffer letter -n- and the dative suffix -a to mean "at the price/cost of".
Could I just use ama (but) instead of yine de (yet / nevertheless) here?
You could, but yine de is a much better fit for this context. It creates a stronger contrast, specifically emphasizing that the second action (savaştı) happened in spite of the condition established in the first clause (korkuyordu).
Why does the sentence mix the past continuous (korkuyordu) with the simple past (savaştı)?
This combination is commonly used to set a scene. Korkuyordu (was afraid / was fearing) establishes an ongoing background state or emotion. Savaştı (fought) acts as the definite, concrete action that occurred against that backdrop.
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