Breakdown of Mutfak kapısı kilitli olduğunda yemek yapamıyorum.
olmak
to be
yemek
the food
mutfak
the kitchen
yapmak
to make
Questions & Answers about Mutfak kapısı kilitli olduğunda yemek yapamıyorum.
Why is it mutfak kapısı and not mutfağın kapısı?
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?