Breakdown of Söylentilerin kulaktan kulağa yayılacağını biliyorduk.
bilmek
to know
söylenti
rumor
yayılmak
to spread
kulak
ear
Questions & Answers about Söylentilerin kulaktan kulağa yayılacağını biliyorduk.
How does the phrase kulaktan kulağa relate to this lesson's topic?
It uses the gradual progression pattern: Noun + Ablative (-DAn) + same Noun + Dative (-(y)A). Using the word kulak (ear), it literally translates to "from ear to ear". Notice that in the second part, adding the dative -a causes the final k to soften to ğ (kulağa). While English uses "by word of mouth", Turkish uses "from ear to ear".
Why does the word yayılacağını look so complex instead of just being a regular future tense verb?
Because it acts as the object of the verb biliyorduk (we knew). To say "we knew that...", Turkish turns the action into a noun phrase. It combines the verb yayılmak (to spread), the future participle -acak, the 3rd person possessive -ı (connecting it to the rumors), a buffer -n-, and finally the accusative case -ı because this whole chunk is the direct object of what we knew.
Since söylentilerin (the rumors) is plural, why does yayılacağını use the singular possessive -ı instead of the plural -ları (yayılacaklarını)?
In Turkish, when a subject is non-human or inanimate (like rumors), its corresponding verb or participle usually stays in the singular form. You could grammatically say söylentilerin yayılacaklarını, but using the singular yayılacağını for plural inanimate objects is highly natural and the standard way native speakers talk.