Ahşap macunu kururken mengene parçayı tuttu.

Kururken means while drying or, in this sentence, more naturally while it was drying.

It comes from the verb kurumak = to dry (in the intransitive sense, meaning to become dry).

The form is built like this:

• kurur = it dries / it will dry (aorist form)
• -ken = while / when

So:

• kurur + ken → kururken

In real translation, English usually makes this sound more natural as while it was drying, even though Turkish does not mark past tense directly on kururken itself.

Ahşap macunu is a very common Turkish noun-compound pattern.

It works like this:

• ahşap = wood
• macun = putty / paste / filler
• macun-u = the compound form used in wood filler / wood putty

So ahşap macunu means wood filler or wood putty.

The -u on macunu is not an accusative ending here. It is the usual ending on the second noun in this kind of compound. Turkish often forms compounds like this:

• elma suyu = apple juice
• otobüs durağı = bus stop
• ahşap macunu = wood filler

So an English speaker should think of this as a fixed compound structure, not as the putty being a direct object.

Because parçayı is the direct object, and mengene is the subject.

• mengene = the vise / clamp
• parçayı = the piece

The ending -yı on parçayı is the accusative marker, which often marks a definite or specific direct object.

So:

• parça = a piece / piece
• parçayı = the piece / the specific piece

The y is just a buffer consonant between vowels:

• parça + ı → parçayı

Subjects usually do not get a special ending in a basic sentence like this, so mengene stays unchanged.

Tuttu is the past tense of tutmak.

Tutmak has several meanings, including:

• to hold
• to keep
• to grip
• to catch
• to support
• sometimes to clamp/keep in place, depending on context

In this sentence, with mengene as the subject, the meaning is something like:

• held
• kept in place
• clamped

So mengene parçayı tuttu means the vise/clamp was holding the piece steady.

Because Turkish normally prefers Subject–Object–Verb order, and the main verb usually comes last.

Here the sentence is:

• Ahşap macunu kururken = while the wood filler was drying
• mengene parçayı tuttu = the vise held the piece

Inside the main clause:

• mengene = subject
• parçayı = object
• tuttu = verb

So the basic structure is very normal Turkish.

Turkish word order can change for emphasis, but this version is neutral and natural.

Because -ken clauses are usually interpreted relative to the tense of the main verb.

The main verb here is:

• tuttu = held (past)

So the whole situation is understood in the past:

• the vise held
• while the wood filler was drying

In other words, kururken itself mainly expresses simultaneous time: while/when drying. The past-time feeling comes from the main clause.

It belongs to kururken.

A good way to divide the sentence is:

• Ahşap macunu kururken = while the wood filler was drying
• mengene parçayı tuttu = the vise held the piece

So there are effectively two different subjects in the sentence:

• ahşap macunu is the subject of kururken
• mengene is the subject of tuttu

That is perfectly normal in Turkish. The -ken clause can have its own subject.

This is an important verb pair:

• kurumak = to dry / to become dry
• kurutmak = to dry something / to make something dry

So:

• Ahşap macunu kururken = while the wood filler was drying
• If you said ahşap macununu kuruturken, that would suggest someone was drying the wood filler

Here the filler is simply drying on its own, so kurumak is the correct choice.

Turkish does not have articles that work like English a/an and the.

Instead, Turkish shows definiteness and specificity in other ways, often through:

• context
• word order
• the accusative ending on direct objects
• words like bir

In this sentence:

• parçayı is clearly specific/definite, because it has the accusative ending
• mengene and ahşap macunu are understood from context

So English has to add articles when translating, but Turkish does not need them.

Yes. -ken can often mean either while or when, depending on context.

But here while is the best fit, because the idea is that one action was happening during another:

• the wood filler was drying
• during that time, the vise held the piece

So while the wood filler was drying sounds more natural than when the wood filler dried.

In many cases, -ken emphasizes overlapping time rather than a single completed moment.