Learn Hardcore Turkish: Hava ısınınca battaniyeler balkonda kurumaya başlıyor. - When the weather warms up, the blankets start to dry on the balcony.

The root ısın- means "to warm up." The suffix -ınca (variant of -ince/-unca/-ünce) attaches to the verb stem to form a temporal clause meaning “when” or “once.” So ısınınca translates as “when (it) warms up.”

Why is battaniyeler not battaniyeleri?

In Turkish, the accusative ending -i marks direct objects of transitive verbs. Here, battaniyeler is the subject of the intransitive verb kurumaya başlıyor, so it remains in the unmarked nominative. battaniyeler simply means “the blankets.”

What is the role of balkonda and why does it take -da?

balkonda is the locative form of balkon, meaning “on the balcony.” The suffix -da (rather than -de) is chosen by vowel harmony: balkon has the back vowel o, so the locative ending is -da, giving balkon + da = balkonda.

How does kurumaya başlıyor work grammatically?

kurumak means “to dry.” Adding the deverbal noun suffix -ma gives kuruma (“drying”). This noun then takes the dative suffix -ya because başlamak (“to begin”) requires its complement in the dative case. Together, kurumaya başlıyor = “(it) begins to dry” or “starts to dry.”

Why is there a y in kurumaya?

Turkish avoids vowel clusters, so when you attach the dative -a to kuruma, a buffer consonant -y- is inserted: kuruma + a → kurumaya.

Could I say kuruyor instead of kurumaya başlıyor?

You could say “Battaniyeler balkonda kuruyor,” which means “The blankets are drying.” But kurumaya başlıyor emphasizes the onset of drying: “(They) start to dry.”

Can the word order change in this sentence?

Yes. Turkish is fairly flexible, though verbs usually come last. You might hear “Battaniyeler balkonda hava ısınınca kurumaya başlıyor.” or even “Hava ısınınca balkonda battaniyeler kurumaya başlıyor.” Fronting the temporal clause Hava ısınınca is common to set the time frame first.