Breakdown of İsyancıların çekilmesine izin vermeye mecbur kaldık.
kalmak
to stay / to be left / to remain (in a state)
mecbur
obliged
izin vermek
to allow
çekilmek
to withdraw
isyancı
rebel, insurgent
Questions & Answers about İsyancıların çekilmesine izin vermeye mecbur kaldık.
How does the grammar for "forced to let" work here with vermeye mecbur kaldık?
The phrase mecbur kalmak (to be forced/obliged to) requires the Dative case for the action you are forced to do. Here, the action is izin vermek (to let / to give permission). We turn it into a noun using the short verbal noun suffix -mA and add the Dative buffer -y- and suffix -e, giving us vermeye.
Why is there a possessive suffix on çekilmesine instead of just being çekilmeye?
Because we are specifying exactly who is retreating. İsyancıların çekilmesi is a genitive-possessive phrase literally meaning "the rebels' retreating". The verbal noun çekilme takes the third-person possessive -si. When we add the Dative suffix -e required by izin vermek, we use the buffer -n-, resulting in çekilmesine.
Wait, so there are two words taking the Dative case in this sentence?
Exactly! It is a chain of grammatical dependencies. Çekilmesine takes the Dative because of izin vermek (to give permission to their retreating). Then, vermeye takes the Dative because of mecbur kalmak (to be forced to give permission).
What is the difference between mecbur kaldık and mecbur olduk?
Both mean "we were forced to," but mecbur kalmak emphasizes being backed into a corner where circumstances left you with no other choice (literally "we remained obliged"). Native speakers heavily favor mecbur kalmak or zorunda kalmak when talking about this kind of situational compulsion.
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