Word
Resmiyet o kadar katı ki her kurala riayet etmek zorundasınız.
Meaning
The formality is so strict that you have to comply with every rule.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Resmiyet o kadar katı ki her kurala riayet etmek zorundasınız.
o
that / he / she / it
her
every
kadar
as ... as; until, up to
kural
rule
Questions & Answers about Resmiyet o kadar katı ki her kurala riayet etmek zorundasınız.
How does the o kadar ... ki structure work in this sentence?
It translates directly to "so ... that" in English. O kadar katı ki means "so strict that". The word ki acts as a conjunction connecting the cause to the effect. Even though ki is a Persian borrowing, this specific pattern is very common in everyday Turkish and functions exactly like its English equivalent.
Why is kural (rule) in the dative case (kurala)?
The formal compound verb riayet etmek (to comply, to observe, to abide by) requires the dative case for the object you are complying with. It helps to think of it literally as complying to a rule.
I learned that katı means "solid" or "hard". How does it mean "strict" here?
Just like in English where a rule can be "hard and fast" or a person can be "inflexible", katı is heavily used in a metaphorical sense in Turkish. When applied to rules, systems, or people's attitudes, it means "strict", "rigid", or "uncompromising".
Could we use etmelisiniz instead of etmek zorundasınız for "you have to comply"?
You could, but zorunda olmak emphasizes a strong external obligation or a complete lack of choice (literally "to be in the difficulty/necessity of"). Because the sentence sets up a situation of strict formality, zorundasınız captures that heavy, forced requirement much better than the -meli suffix, which can sometimes just be a strong recommendation.