Breakdown of Bilinen o ki o ödülü kazandı.
o
that / he / she / it
bilmek
to know
kazanmak
to earn / to win
ödül
prize / award
ki
that (conjunction) / so... that
Questions & Answers about Bilinen o ki o ödülü kazandı.
How does the structure Bilinen o ki break down?
It uses a substantivized participle to create a cleft sentence. Bilinen comes from the passive verb bilinmek (to be known) plus the subject participle -en, meaning "the thing that is known." The o ki part connects it to the rest of the sentence, acting as "is this: that...". Together, it literally means "The known fact is this: that..."
Why are there two o's right next to each other in the middle of the sentence?
They serve completely different grammatical functions! The first o belongs to the phrase o ki, acting as a dummy pronoun ("the known thing is that..."). The second o is the personal pronoun "he" (or "she/it"), acting as the subject of kazandı (won). A comma is often used in writing to make this separation clearer: Bilinen o ki, o ödülü kazandı.
Could we just say Onun ödülü kazandığı biliniyor?
Yes, absolutely! Using the -dığı participle with a passive verb (biliniyor) is the standard, everyday way to say "It is known that..." However, the [Participle] + o ki structure taught in this lesson gives the sentence a more rhetorical, slightly dramatic flair, emphasizing the statement that follows.
Why is there an -ü on the end of ödülü?
This is a quick refresher on the definite accusative case. Because the sentence refers to a specific award ("the award"), it needs the accusative marker (-ü) to show it is the definite direct object of the verb kazandı. If the sentence meant he won a general or unspecified award, it would just be ödül kazandı.
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