Learn Hardcore Turkish: Sahneye çıkmadan önce mikrofonu kontrol edelim ve hoparlörlerin ses seviyesini ayarlayalım. - Let’s check the microphone and adjust the speakers’ volume before going on stage.

The form -meden is an adverbial participle (zarf-fiil) with negation: you take the verb stem (çık-), add the negative suffix -ma/-me, then the case ending -den/-dan. Placing önce (before) after it creates the meaning “before [verb]ing.” So çık-ma-den önce literally “without exiting, before,” idiomatically “before going on stage.”

Why is sahne in the dative case sahneye rather than nominative?

Turkish uses the dative case (-e/-a) to mark movement toward a place. Since çıkmak here means “to go onto” (the stage), sahne takes -ye (buffer y + -e) to become sahneye, meaning “onto the stage.” (By contrast, sahnede with -de would mean “on the stage” without movement.)

What is the structure and meaning of kontrol edelim, and how does it differ from a standard imperative?

kontrol edelim is the first-person plural hortative (we-form of the imperative), meaning “let’s check.” You combine the noun kontrol with the verb etmek, drop -mek, and add -elim (1 pl suggestion). This invites collective action (let us check), whereas the second-person imperative kontrol et simply commands “(you) check.”

Why does mikrofonu carry the accusative suffix -u rather than appearing bare?

In Turkish, a definite direct object takes the accusative suffix -ı/-i/-u/-ü. Here we mean “the microphone” (specific, known), so mikrofon + -u = mikrofonu. If it were general/indefinite, the suffix could be dropped (e.g. mikrofon kontrol edelim = “let’s check a microphone”).

Why is there no indefinite article bir before mikrofonu in this sentence?

Turkish often omits bir (“a/an”) in instructions or when the context already specifies the item. Since speakers know which microphone it is (the one on stage), adding bir would unnecessarily emphasize indefiniteness and change the nuance to “a certain microphone.”

What is the buffer consonant -y- doing in ayarlayalım, and how is this form constructed from ayarlamak?

The infinitive ayarlamak (to adjust) drops -mak, leaving the stem ayarla which ends in a vowel. Turkish inserts a buffer consonant y before a vowel-initial suffix. The first-person plural hortative suffix is -alım (harmonizing with a). Thus: ayarla + y + alım = ayarlayalım (“let’s adjust”).

Why does hoparlörlerin have the suffix -lerin, and what does it indicate?

hoparlör (“speaker”) + -ler makes it plural (speakers), and the added -in marks the genitive case (possession). So hoparlörlerin means “of the speakers,” indicating that what follows belongs to those speakers.

Why does ses seviyesi take two -i suffixes in ses seviyesini, and what do they each represent?

The first -i on seviye is the third-person singular genitive, linking ses (sound) to seviye (level) to form “the level of sound.” The second -ni (realized as -i by vowel harmony, with a buffer n) is the accusative suffix marking the entire phrase as a definite direct object. Combined: seviye + -si (genitive) + -ni (accusative) → seviyesi + ni → seviyesini.