Learn Hardcore Turkish: Tren istasyona yaklaşınca yavaşlıyor. - The train slows down when it approaches the station.

The -a suffix on istasyon marks the dative case, indicating motion toward something. So istasyona literally means “to the station.” In Turkish, verbs of movement or approaching require their destination to be in the dative case.

What does the suffix -ınca in yaklaşınca mean? How does it function grammatically?

-ınca/-ince is a temporal conjunction suffix attached to a verb stem to mean “when” or “as soon as.” Here, yaklaş (to approach) + -ınca = yaklaşınca, meaning “when it approaches.” It turns the verb into a subordinate clause without needing a separate word like “when.”

Why is the verb yavaşlıyor in the present continuous (-yor) form rather than the simple present or past tense?

Turkish uses the present continuous (-yor) not only for actions happening right now but also for general truths or predictable events. Tren istasyona yaklaşınca yavaşlıyor implies that the train routinely or predictably slows down whenever it approaches the station. If you used the simple past yavaşladı, it would mean “it slowed down (once),” changing the general statement.

Could we use yaklaşırken instead of yaklaşınca? What’s the difference?

Yes. yaklaşırken (yaklaş + -ken) means “while approaching,” focusing on two actions happening simultaneously. yaklaşınca, on the other hand, means “when/as soon as it approaches,” emphasizing the moment the condition triggers the main clause. Use -ken for ongoing simultaneity, -ınca for conditional timing.

Why isn’t there an explicit subject before yavaşlıyor? How do we know who is slowing down?

Turkish often omits the subject pronoun when it’s clear from context. Here, tren is the subject of both clauses, so it’s not repeated before yavaşlıyor. The verb ending -yor alone does not specify person, but context (mentioning tren) makes it clear.

Why is tren left without a suffix (nominative case)? Could it be in accusative or another case?

Tren is the subject of the sentence, and subjects in Turkish normally stay in the nominative case with no suffix. We only add -ı/-i/-u/-ü (accusative) when marking a definite direct object, which isn’t happening here.

Instead of istasyona, could we use istasyonda? What changes?

İstasyonda is the locative case (-da/-de), meaning “at the station.” That would imply the train slows down while it’s already at the station. With istasyona (dative), it means “as it’s approaching the station.” The case suffix switches the nuance from direction to location.

Is yavaşlamak transitive or intransitive? Why can’t we say Tren istasyona yaklaşınca yavaşlatıyor?

Yavaşlamak is intransitive, meaning “to slow down oneself.” Yavaşlatmak is the causative form, meaning “to slow something else down.” Since the train is doing the slowing itself, we use yavaşlıyor. If you wanted to say someone or something else slows the train, you’d use yavaşlattı with an explicit agent.