Ütüsüz gömlekle toplantıya gitmek zor.

to be

Breakdown of Ütüsüz gömlekle toplantıya gitmek zor.

• gitmek: to go
• zor: difficult
• ile: with

Questions & Answers about Ütüsüz gömlekle toplantıya gitmek zor.

What does the suffix -süz in ütüsüz mean, and why does it surface as -süz instead of another form?

The suffix -siz means “without” (similar to English “-less”). Turkish vowel harmony gives it four variants: -sız, ‑siz, ‑suz, ‑süz. Since ütü ends in ü (a front-rounded vowel), the suffix harmonizes to -süz, yielding ütüsüz = “without ironing” or “un-ironed.”

Why is gömlekle written as one word? What does -le do here?

Turkish uses the suffix −le/-la on nouns to express instrumental or comitative meaning (“with”). When attached, it fuses:

• gömlek + ‑le = gömlekle (“with a shirt”).
  You could also say gömlek ile, but the suffix form (gömlekle) is more common in everyday speech. The meaning is the same; ile alone sounds slightly more formal.

What case is toplantıya, and why is it used in this sentence?

Toplantıya is toplantı (“meeting”) + the dative case suffix -ya (after ı it becomes ­ya). It marks the destination of gitmek:

• (to) the meeting → toplantıya

Why is gitmek in the infinitive form? How does that work grammatically?