Yangın başladı, binada kaçışan kaçışana.

Breakdown of Yangın başladı, binada kaçışan kaçışana.

bina
building
başlamak
to begin, to start
yangın
fire (event)
kaçışmak
to scatter (fleeing)

Questions & Answers about Yangın başladı, binada kaçışan kaçışana.

Why do we repeat the word kaçışan but add an -a to the second one?
This is the exact structure for showing chaotic abundance that you are learning in this lesson. It uses the subject participle -An followed by the same participle with the dative suffix -(y)A. Literally, it is like saying 'the fleeing one to the fleeing one', but it vividly describes a scene of intense, chaotic activity where everyone is doing the same thing. People are bumping into each other in the rush.
What is the difference between kaçmak and kaçışmak here?
Kaçmak simply means to run away or to escape. The -ış suffix makes it a reciprocal or collective verb (kaçışmak), meaning to flee in all directions or to scatter. It emphasizes that a whole crowd of people is panicking and running in different, intersecting ways, rather than just one person escaping in a straight line.
There is no verb at the end of binada kaçışan kaçışana. Is the sentence incomplete?
It is grammatically complete for this specific pattern! The -An -AnA structure acts as a standalone descriptive exclamation. You do not need a main verb like var (there is) or a 'to be' ending, though you could imagine an invisible copula tying it together. Leaving it out makes the description of the chaos feel much more urgent and immediate.
How do we know the scattering is happening right now if kaçışan kaçışana lacks a tense marker?
The -An -AnA pattern does not carry a tense of its own; it simply paints a vivid picture of a chaotic state. The tense is provided by the surrounding context. Here, başladı (started) sets the immediate past trigger, making the chaotic scattering the direct, ongoing result happening in the current scene.

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