Learn Hardcore Turkish: Çiçek yetiştirmek için tohum ekmeden önce toprağı özenle sürmelisin. - Before sowing the seed to grow flowers, you should till the soil carefully.

The suffix -mek için attaches to an infinitive to express purpose: “in order to do something.”
Here, yetiştirmek için comes from yetiştirmek (to cultivate/grow) + için, so it means “in order to grow/cultivate (flowers).”

How does the construction ekmeden önce work, and why is it -meden and not -madan?

ekmeden önce is a time clause meaning “before sowing/planting.”

-meden is the negative gerund (adverbial) form: “without doing” or “before doing.”
Vowel harmony dictates -meden vs. -madan. Since the verb root ek- has the vowel e, we use -meden.

Why is toprağı in the accusative case here?

In Turkish, definite direct objects take the accusative suffix.

toprak (soil) + -ı (accusative) → toprağı
This tells the listener you’re referring to a specific soil (for your flowers), not soil in general.

What does the verb sürmek mean in this context?

While sürmek can mean “to drive” or “to extend,” in agricultural contexts it means “to plow/turn over (the soil).” Here it’s used as “prepare the soil by plowing.”

What is the function of the suffix -melisin in sürmelisin?

sürmelisin = you must/should plow. It breaks down as:

sür- (plow)
-meli (necessity/obligation marker: “must/should”)
-sin (2nd person singular ending: “you”)
Together it expresses a recommendation or obligation: “you should plow.”

What part of speech is özenle, and why is it placed before the verb?

özenle is an adverb meaning “carefully” (literally “with care,” from özen + instrumental -le). In Turkish, adverbs of manner typically come right before the verb they modify: toprağı özenle sürmelisin.

Why is the main verb placed at the very end of the sentence?

Turkish follows a Subject-Object-Verb (SOV) order. Even when you add purpose clauses (yetiştirmek için), time clauses (tohum ekmeden önce) and adverbs (özenle), the finite verb (sürmelisin) stays at the end.

Why are there no articles like “the” or “a” before tohum and toprak?

Turkish has no separate articles. Instead, definiteness is shown by context or by case endings (e.g., accusative -ı on toprağı). Indefinite nouns usually appear without any suffix: tohum ekmeden = “before sowing seeds.”

Can you break down the structure of yetiştirmek?

Certainly:

yetiş-: root meaning “to grow/mature”
-tir-: causative suffix (“to cause to grow”)
-mek: infinitive ending (verbal noun)
So yetiştirmek literally means “to cause something to grow,” i.e. “to cultivate” or “to nurture.”