öyle bir

13:52 Nov 23, 2012 

Thanks for your interesting and valuable insight.

13:52 Nov 23, 2012 

Ah, but I think that Tim means the emphatic 'bir' here, which is quite different from the 'bir' we're talking about.

13:48 Nov 23, 2012 

I would say we don't use it without "bir" in this particular sense- Google brings only three hits for "Ona öyle baktım ki"...

13:43 Nov 23, 2012 

An interesting observation. Can we not, then, say "Ona öyle baktım ki, korktu", i.e. without the 'bir?

13:41 Nov 23, 2012 

Tim's explanation regarding the usage of "bir" is right on; however, the presence of "öyle" changes things: "Ona öyle bir baktım ki, korktu"= "I looked at him in such a way that he got scared"; "Kitaba öyle bir dalmışım ki, adamın gittiğini görmedim"="I was so immersed in the book that I didn't notice the man leaving"...

13:26 Nov 23, 2012 

Many thanks to you both, most helpful.

Indeed, Tim, the phrase ‘easily and readily’ springs to mind – perhaps this ‘bir’ might be the equivalent of the coverb (if that’s the right expression) –vermek in, perhaps, for example, “Adamcağız ölüverdi”.

What do you think? Do you agree?

13:37 Nov 20, 2012 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Öyle_Bir_Geçer_Zaman_Ki

‘As Time goes by’ is how the title of this series is translated here. You cannot really make an idiomatic translation of ‘öyle bir’ on its own.

12:43 Nov 20, 2012 

'Bir' can be used with an adverbial function to imply that the action does not involve much effort or great importance, as in the difference between 'baktım' - 'I looked' and 'bir baktım' - 'I had a little look'. I think the 'bir' in this sentence performs a similar function: this is just how the time passes, it is no big deal.

11:49 Nov 20, 2012 

Actually, this is the title of a song by Erkin Koray and the serial gets its title from that song... It appears that he has simply changed the word order so that it rhymes: http://goo.gl/WT6X3