Learn Hardcore Turkish: Mutfak kapısı kilitli olduğunda yemek yapamıyorum. - I can’t cook when the kitchen door is locked.

mutfak kapısı is a noun–noun compound meaning “kitchen door.” In such compounds Turkish typically omits the genitive suffix on the first noun and only marks the second noun with possessive (kapı-sı).
mutfağın kapısı (“the door of the kitchen”) is also grammatically correct, but mutfak kapısı is more idiomatic when you simply want to say “kitchen door.”

What does kilitli olduğunda literally break down into?

– kilitli = “locked,” formed from kilit (“lock”) + -li (adjectival suffix)
– olduğunda = “when it is/has become,” from ol- (“to be”) + -du (past marker) + -ğ(u)n (relative participle + 3rd-person possessor) + -da (time suffix “when”).
Altogether kilitli olduğunda means “when (it) is locked.”

Why is there a past tense marker in olduğunda if we mean “when it is locked” (present)?

In Turkish time clauses, the suffix -dığında (with the past-tense base -du) doesn’t literally force “past.” It’s just the standard marker for “whenever/when” something happens. You’ll see it with present, past or future sense depending on context.

Could we use kilitlendiğinde instead of kilitli olduğunda?

Yes. kilitle(n)mek is “to lock,” so kapı kilitlendiğinde = “when the door gets locked.”
kilitli olduğunda focuses on the resulting state (“when it is locked”), while kilitlendiğinde highlights the action/event of locking. Both are correct with very similar meaning.

What’s the difference between kilitli olduğunda and kilitliyken?

– kilitli olduğunda = “whenever/when it becomes (or is) locked”; it points to the moment of becoming or the general condition.
– kilitliyken = “while it is locked,” stressing that something happens during the locked state.
Use -dığında for “when/whenever” and -ken for “while.”

Why is it yapamıyorum and not just yapmıyorum?

yapmıyorum means “I am not doing (it).”
yapamıyorum means “I cannot do (it)” – it uses the negative potential. The extra -a- signals inability (“cannot”), not merely a simple negation.

Can you break down yapamıyorum morphologically?

Sure:

yap (root “do/make”)
-ama- (negative potential suffix; “unable to”)
-yor (present continuous)
-um (1st-person singular)
All together: yap-ama-ıyor-um = “I am not able to do (it).”

Why is there no article before mutfak kapısı?

Turkish doesn’t have indefinite or definite articles like a or the. Definiteness comes from context, word order, or case endings, not from separate words.

If I wanted to express the past version, “When the kitchen door was locked, I couldn’t cook,” how would it change?

You’d switch the potential to past and the time suffix remains the same:
Mutfak kapısı kilitli olduğunda yemek yapamadım.

How would you say “Once the kitchen door is unlocked, I can cook” in Turkish?

One option is:
Mutfak kapısı kilitli olmayınca yemek yapabiliyorum.
Here kilitli olmayınca = “once it’s not locked,” and yapabiliyorum = “I can cook.”