Arabalı vapur palamarla bağlandı.

Literally, arabalı vapur is something like car-equipped ferry or ferry with cars.

• araba = car
• -lı / -li / -lu / -lü = a suffix meaning with, having, containing
• vapur = ferry / steamer / boat (depending on context)

So arabalı means with cars or car-carrying, and arabalı vapur is the normal way to say car ferry in Turkish.

The suffix -lı turns a noun into an adjective meaning with or having that thing.

Here:

• araba = car
• arabalı = with cars / car-carrying

Some similar examples:

• şeker = sugar → şekerli = with sugar, sweetened
• tuz = salt → tuzlu = salty / with salt
• bahçe = garden → bahçeli ev = house with a garden

So arabalı vapur works like car ferry in English.

Not exactly. Vapur usually refers to a ferry, passenger boat, or historically a steamboat. In modern everyday Turkish, it is very commonly used for the ferries you see especially in places like Istanbul.

So in this sentence, vapur is not just a generic boat. It is more specifically a ferry.

Palamar is a nautical word. It means a thick mooring rope/line used to secure a ship or ferry.

So it is not just any ordinary rope. It is specifically the heavy rope or line used when a vessel is tied up at a dock or pier.

The ending -la / -le is the instrumental/comitative suffix. It often means with, by means of, or using.

So:

• palamar = mooring line
• palamarla = with the mooring line / using the mooring line

In this sentence, it tells you the means used for tying the ferry.

This is because of vowel harmony.

The suffix appears as -la or -le depending on the last vowel of the word:

• if the last vowel is a back vowel (a, ı, o, u), you usually get -la
• if it is a front vowel (e, i, ö, ü), you usually get -le

Since palamar has the last vowel a, it becomes palamarla.

Bağlandı comes from the verb bağlanmak.

• bağlamak = to tie, bind, connect
• bağlanmak = to be tied, to get tied, to be connected

So bağlandı means was tied, got tied, or in this context more naturally was moored.

For a ferry, English often uses moored or tied up, even though the Turkish verb is the general verb bağlanmak.

This is a very common question.

• bağladı = (someone/something) tied it
  This is an active transitive form.
• bağlandı = it was tied / it got tied
  This is the form used here.

The -n- in bağlanmak often gives a passive-like or intransitive meaning. In this sentence, the ferry is the thing undergoing the action, not the thing performing it.

So:

• Görevli vapuru bağladı. = The worker tied/moored the ferry.
• Vapur bağlandı. = The ferry was tied/moored.

It is in the simple past tense (also called the definite past in Turkish grammar).

Breakdown:

• bağlan- = be tied / be moored
• -dı / -di / -du / -dü = past tense suffix

Because of vowel harmony and consonant rules, here it appears as -dı:

• bağlandı = was tied / got tied

This tense is used for completed actions in the past.

Turkish does not have articles like the or a/an in the same way English does.

So Arabalı vapur palamarla bağlandı can mean:

• The car ferry was tied up with a mooring line or, depending on context,
• A car ferry was tied up with a mooring line

Usually the context tells you whether English should use the or a.

The basic Turkish word order is often Subject + other elements + Verb.

Here:

• Arabalı vapur = subject
• palamarla = instrument / means
• bağlandı = verb

So the sentence follows a very normal Turkish pattern: Subject + Instrument + Verb

A very literal structure would be: The car ferry / with a mooring line / was tied.

Turkish usually puts the verb at the end.

Not naturally. A word-for-word translation helps you see the structure, but the natural English meaning is more like:

• The car ferry was moored with a mooring line.
• The car ferry was tied up with a mooring line.

English normally needs was here because bağlandı is not simply tied in the active sense; it is was tied / got tied.

No, palamarla means with the mooring line or using the mooring line.

If you wanted to say to the mooring line, Turkish would normally use a different case ending, not -la.

So this sentence focuses on the means/instrument used to moor the ferry, not the destination or attachment point.

Yes, it is a common expression for car ferry.

Even though you can analyze it grammatically as car-carrying ferry, learners should remember it as a normal everyday term. Turkish often forms this kind of expression by using a noun plus an adjective made with -lı.

So it is both:

• grammatically transparent, and
• a standard expression you will hear in real life.