Kumandanın pili bitince televizyonu açamadım.

When the remote’s battery ran out, I couldn’t turn on the TV.

Breakdown of Kumandanın pili bitince televizyonu açamadım.

• -nın: of
• televizyon: the TV
• -u: accusative
• kumanda: the remote
• pil: the battery
• -i: its
• bitince: when
• açamamak: to be unable to turn on

Questions & Answers about Kumandanın pili bitince televizyonu açamadım.

What does bitince mean, and how is it formed?

bitince is a time‐clause conjunction meaning “when it runs out” or “once it’s gone.” You form it by taking the verb root bit- (to finish/run out) and adding the suffix -ince (when/as soon as). So bit- + -ince = bitince (“when it ran out”).

Why is it kumandanın pili? What do those suffixes do?

This is a possessive construction:

• kumandanın = kumanda (remote control) + genitive suffix -nın (“of the remote”)
• pili = pil (battery) + 3rd person singular possessive suffix -i (“its battery”)
  Together kumandanın pili literally means “the remote’s battery.”

Why is televizyonu marked with -u? Could we leave it unmarked?

Because it’s a specific/definite object here (“the television”), Turkish requires the accusative case. The accusative suffix for televizyon is -u, giving televizyonu. Omitting it would make the object indefinite or general (“a television”).

What is the structure of açamadım?

It breaks down as:

• aç- (root “open”)
• -abil- (ability: “be able to”)
• -me- (negative)
• -di- (past tense)
• -m (1st person singular)
  => aç-abil-me-di-m = “I could not open.”

Why don’t we say ben (“I”) in açamadım?

In Turkish, the verb ending -m already marks “I.” Adding ben is grammatically fine (for emphasis), but normally it’s dropped since the person is clear from the verb suffix.

Could we use uzaktan kumanda instead of just kumanda?

Yes. uzaktan kumanda literally means “remote control,” but in everyday speech kumanda by itself usually suffices when the context is clear.

What’s the difference between bitince, bittiğinde, and bittiği zaman?

All three introduce a “when” clause, but with slight style/nuance differences:

• bitince (“when/once it runs out”) is concise and implies immediacy
• bittiğinde is a neutral “when it ended”
• bittiği zaman (“the time when it ended”) is more formal or explicit
  None change the core meaning of the sentence.

Why does the time clause come before the main clause in this sentence?

Turkish typically follows Subject-Object-Verb order, and subordinate clauses (like a time clause) commonly appear at the beginning to set the context. So kumandanın pili bitince (“when the remote’s battery ran out”) precedes televizyonu açamadım (“I couldn’t turn on the TV”).

If the remote uses multiple batteries, how would you say that?

You would pluralize pil and add the possessive suffix: kumandanın pilleri (pil-ler + ‑i). For example:
kumandanın pilleri bitince televizyonu açamadım
(“When the remote’s batteries ran out, I couldn’t turn on the TV.”)