Kemerimi sıkılaştırdım, böylece pantolonum yürürken düşmeyecek.

(I tightened my belt so my pants won’t fall down while I walk.)

Breakdown of Kemerimi sıkılaştırdım, böylece pantolonum yürürken düşmeyecek.

• benim: my
• böylece: so
• yürümek: to walk
• -ken: while
• pantolon: the pants
• kemer: the belt
• sıkılaştırmak: to tighten
• düşmek: to fall

Questions & Answers about Kemerimi sıkılaştırdım, böylece pantolonum yürürken düşmeyecek.

How is the verb sıkılaştırdım built up from its root, and what does each part mean?

The base verb is sıkı (“tight”). To form sıkılaştırdım, we add:

1. -laştır → a causative suffix turning “make tight” (sıkılaş- would mean “become tight,” so -laştır forces someone to “make tight”).
2. -dı → past tense marker.
3. -m → first person singular subject (“I”).

So sıkılaştırdım literally means “I made (something) tight,” i.e. “I tightened (it).”

Why do we say kemerimi instead of just kemerim?

kemerim = “my belt” (nominative). When you tighten something, that thing is a direct object in Turkish and takes the accusative suffix -i. You also need the possessive -im for “my,” so:
kemer + -im (my) + -i (object) → kemerimi (“my belt” as the thing I tightened).

In pantolonum yürürken düşmeyecek, why is pantolonum marked only for possession and not for case?

pantolonum = “my trousers.” Here it’s the subject of the verb düşmeyecek (“will not fall”) in the second clause. Subjects in Turkish generally stay in the nominative case (no extra suffix, except the possessive -um). Only objects get the accusative suffix when they’re definite.

What does yürürken mean, and how is it formed?

yürürken = “while (I/it) am walking.” It’s formed from the verb root yürü- (“walk”), plus:

1. -ür → present/aorist marker for “walk.”
2. -ken → “while” suffix that turns a verb into an adverbial clause.

Combine: yürü + -ür + -ken = yürürken.

How is the negative future düşmeyecek constructed here?

Start with the root düş- (“fall”), then add:

1. -me → negation suffix (“not fall”).
2. -yecek → future tense suffix.

Together: düş + -me + -yecek = düşmeyecek, “will not fall.”

Why do we use böylece instead of böyle or böylelikle?

All three can mean “thus,” “so,” or “like this.”

• böyle is the basic adverb (“like this”).
• böylece adds a sense of result or purpose (“in this manner, so that”).
• böylelikle is slightly more formal, similar to böylece.

Here böylece explicitly links tightening the belt to the result “so that my trousers won’t fall.”

Why isn’t there an explicit subject pronoun in these sentences?

Turkish verbs include person information in their endings. For example, sıkılaştırdım ends in -dım, which tells you “I.” düşmeyecek has no first-person ending but context and pantolonum clarify the meaning. Stating ben (“I”) is optional and usually omitted.

Could you explain the word order in this sentence?

Turkish typically follows Subject-Object-Verb. In our sentence:

1. Kemerimi (object of the first verb)
2. sıkılaştırdım (verb)
3. comma
4. böylece (linking adverb)
5. pantolonum (subject of the second verb)
6. yürürken (adverbial “while walking”)
7. düşmeyecek (verb).

Modifiers and adverbials precede the verb they relate to.

Is there an alternative way to say “I tightened my belt so that my trousers won’t fall while walking”?

Yes. For example:

• Kemerimi sıktım, böylece pantolonum yürürken düşmez.
  (Using sıktım “I squeezed/tightened” + present tense düşmez “won’t fall.”)
• Kemerimi iyice sıktım, pantolonum yürürken düşmedi.
  (If you want past perfective sense: “I tightened my belt well, so my trousers didn’t fall while walking.”)