Learn Hardcore Turkish: Havaalanına gitmek için taksiyle yola çıktım.

In Turkish, the suffix -a (or -e depending on vowel harmony) marks the dative case, showing direction or destination (“to”/“toward”). The word havaalanı (“airport”) ends in -ı, so it takes -na (harmonizing with ı) to become havaalanına, meaning to the airport.

What function does için serve in this sentence?

İçin is a postposition meaning for or in order to. When placed after a verb’s infinitive, it expresses purpose. Here, havaalanına gitmek için means “in order to go to the airport.”

Why is the verb gitmek in its infinitive form here?

To express purpose in Turkish, you use the infinitive (verb stem + -mek/-mak) plus için. Thus gitmek (“to go”) is used with için to form gitmek için = “in order to go.”

What does yola çıktım literally mean, and why not just say taksiyle gittim?

Literally, yola çıktım means “I set off on the road” (yol = road, çıkmak = to leave/go out). It’s an idiom meaning “to depart” or “to set out.” While taksiyle gittim (“I went by taxi”) is perfectly fine, yola çıktım emphasizes the start of the journey.

What is the suffix -yle in taksiyle, and what does it indicate?

The suffix -yle (variant of -la/-le) is the instrumental/comitative case marker, meaning “with” or “by means of.” So taksi + -yle = taksiyle, meaning “by taxi.”

Why is there a y between taksi and yle?

In Turkish, when a word ends in a vowel and you add a vowel‐starting suffix, you insert a buffer consonant (usually y). Hence taksi + y + le = taksiyle.

What tense is used in yola çıktım, and how is it formed?

Çıktım is the simple past (definite past) tense for “I”. It’s formed from the stem çık- + the past tense marker -tı/-ti/-tu/-tü (vowel‐harmonized) + the first person singular suffix -m.