Learn Hardcore Turkish: Kervan çöldeki vahşi fırtınaya rağmen ilerlemeyi sürdürdü. - The caravan continued to advance despite the fierce storm in the desert.

• çöl = “desert” (noun)
• -de = locative case suffix (after front vowel “ö”) meaning “in”
• -ki = relative/adjectival suffix that turns the locative into “the one in…”
Putting them together, çöldeki literally means “the (thing) in the desert,” here modifying vahşi fırtına (“the wild storm”).

Why does fırtına take the dative ending -ya to become fırtınaya before rağmen?

The postposition rağmen (“despite”) requires the preceding noun phrase in the dative case. So you say fırtınaya rağmen = “despite the storm.”

What exactly does rağmen mean, and how do you use it?

• rağmen = “despite,” “in spite of”
• It always follows a noun in the dative: X + ya/ye + rağmen
• Example: Yağmura rağmen (“despite the rain”), Zamana rağmen (“despite time”).

Why is ilerlemeyi in the accusative case?

sürdürmek (“to sustain, to continue”) is a transitive verb, so its object ilerleme (“progress”) must be in the accusative: ilerlemeyi = “the progress” as the thing being continued.

How is ilerlemeyi sürdürdü built, and what does each part do?

– ilerleme = noun form of “to progress,” i.e. “progress”
– -yi = accusative suffix marking the direct object
– sürdür- = verb stem “to sustain/continue”
– -dü = past tense suffix (3rd person singular) with front-round vowel harmony
Together: ilerlemeyi sürdürdü = “he/it continued the progress,” i.e. “it kept moving forward.”

What’s the difference between ilerlemeyi sürdürdü and ilerlemeye devam etti?

• ilerlemeyi sürdürdü uses the transitive sürdürmek, focusing on sustaining an action (formal tone).
• ilerlemeye devam etti uses the intransitive devam etmek + dative ilerlemeye, literally “he/it gave continuation to progressing.”
Meaning is nearly identical; choice depends on style or register.

Can I change the word order in this sentence?

Yes. Turkish is fairly flexible. For example:
– Çöldeki vahşi fırtınaya rağmen kervan ilerlemeyi sürdürdü.
– İlerlemeyi sürdürdü kervan, çöldeki vahşi fırtınaya rağmen.
The most neutral is putting the adverbial phrase çöldeki vahşi fırtınaya rağmen before the verb.

What does vahşi mean, and is it common before fırtına?

vahşi = “wild,” “savage.” It’s used poetically or emphatically here to stress how fierce the storm was. More common adjectives for storms are şiddetli (“severe”) or şiddetli fırtına, but vahşi fırtına is perfectly understandable.

Are there other ways to say “despite” instead of rağmen?

Yes. You can use:
• -a/ye karşın (“in spite of”) → fırtınaya karşın
• buna rağmen (“nevertheless”) → Buna rağmen kervan…
• her şeye rağmen (“despite everything”) → Her şeye rağmen ilerlediler.

Why is the past tense suffix -dü used on sürdür- instead of -di?

Vowel harmony: the last vowel of sürdür- is ü (a front rounded vowel), so the past tense suffix harmonizes as -dü (front rounded) rather than -di.