Karda yürüyorken kazak, bere ve atkımı eksik etmedim.

I never went without my sweater, beanie, and scarf while walking in the snow.

Breakdown of Karda yürüyorken kazak, bere ve atkımı eksik etmedim.

• benim: my
• ve: and
• yürümek: to walk
• -da: in

Questions & Answers about Karda yürüyorken kazak, bere ve atkımı eksik etmedim.

What is the function of -ken in yürüyorken, and why is it attached to yürüyor rather than the bare stem yürü-?

The suffix -ken turns a verb into an adverbial participle meaning “while doing X.”

1. yürü (stem) + yor (progressive aspect) → yürüyor (“is walking”)
2. yürüyor
   • ken → yürüyorken (“while walking”)
     You attach -ken after the aspect marker -yor because you want to stress that the walking is ongoing at the same time as the main action. If you attached -ken directly to yürü, you’d get yürürken, which is grammatically possible but less common for continuous, simultaneous actions.

Could I use yürürken instead of yürüyorken, and what’s the nuance?

Yes, yürürken also exists, but:

• yürüyorken (with -yor) highlights that the action was in progress.
• yürürken (simple present participle + -ken) sounds more formal or literary and doesn’t foreground the continuity as strongly.
  In everyday spoken Turkish, learners almost always choose yürüyorken for “while walking.”

Why is it karda rather than kar, and what exactly does karda mean here?