Learn Hardcore Turkish: Hava yağmurlu, o yüzden evde kalıyorum. - The weather is rainy, so I am staying at home.

Turkish often omits a separate “to be” verb in third-person present statements with nouns or adjectives. The adjective itself serves as the predicate: Hava yağmurlu = “The weather is rainy.” You can optionally add the copular suffix -dır/-dir/-dur/-dür for formality or general truths: Hava yağmurludur.

What does the suffix -lu/-lü in yağmurlu mean?

It means “with / having,” creating adjectives from nouns.

yağmur (rain) + -lu → yağmurlu (rainy, having rain)
The suffix follows vowel harmony: -lı/-li/-lu/-lü depending on the last vowel of the base. More examples: güneşli (sunny), karlı (snowy).

Can I say Hava yağmur or Hava yağmurludur? What’s the difference?

Hava yağmur is ungrammatical; you need an adjective or a “there is” structure. You could say Yağmur var (“There is rain”).
Hava yağmurludur is grammatical and more formal/emphatic; -dır often signals general statements or a formal tone.

What’s the difference between Hava yağmurlu and Yağmur yağıyor?

Hava yağmurlu describes the weather as rainy in character (e.g., a rainy day), not necessarily that rain is falling right now.
Yağmur yağıyor means “It’s raining (now),” an ongoing event.

What does o yüzden mean exactly? Is bu yüzden okay too?

O yüzden = “therefore/so/for that reason.” Bu yüzden is also common and near-synonymous. In practice, both are fine here. Other alternatives: bu nedenle, bu sebeple, dolayısıyla. You might also hear o yüzden de, which adds a light “so that’s why, therefore” emphasis.

Is the comma before o yüzden required?

It’s natural to separate the two clauses with a comma. You could also use a period or a semicolon:

Hava yağmurlu. O yüzden evde kalıyorum.
Hava yağmurlu; o yüzden evde kalıyorum.

What tense/aspect is kalıyorum, and how is it built?

It’s the present continuous, formed with -(I)yor plus personal endings.

kal- + ıyor + um → kalıyorum (“I am staying”).
After -yor, personal endings are fixed: -um, -sun, -∅, -uz, -sunuz, -lar (3rd singular has no ending).

Why is it evde and not ev or eve?

-de/-da is the locative case “in/at/on.” Kalmak (“to stay”) takes the locative: evde kalmak = “to stay at home.”

ev = “house/home” (bare noun)
evde = “at home” (locative)
eve = “to home” (dative), used with motion verbs: eve gidiyorum (“I’m going home”).

Could I say Evdeyim instead of Evde kalıyorum?

Yes, but the nuance changes:

Evdeyim = “I am at home” (state).
Evde kalıyorum = “I am staying at home” (an intentional/temporary action or decision, often due to a reason like bad weather).

Why don’t we say ben? Does the verb already show the subject?

Turkish is pro-drop: the verb ending shows the subject. kalıyorum already means “I am staying.” You add Ben mainly for emphasis/contrast: Ben evde kalıyorum (as opposed to someone else).

How do I make this negative or ask a question?

Negative: Hava yağmurlu, o yüzden evde kalmıyorum.
Structure: kal-mı-yor-um (negation -mı-, continuous -yor, 1sg -um).
Yes–no question: Hava yağmurlu, o yüzden evde kalıyor muyum?
The question particle mi/mi/mu/mü is separate and follows vowel harmony; here it’s mu: kalıyor mu-yum.

How do I say it with “because,” using çünkü or … için?

With çünkü (cause clause follows): Evde kalıyorum çünkü hava yağmurlu.
With … için (subordinate clause): Hava yağmurlu olduğu için evde kalıyorum.
Here olduğu comes from olmak
- the nominalizer (-dik/-duk → -duğu with harmony).
You can also use a noun-based cause: Yağmur yüzünden evde kalıyorum (“because of the rain”).

How are yağmurlu and kalıyorum pronounced, especially ğ and ı?

ğ (yumuşak g) usually lengthens the preceding vowel; it isn’t a hard “g.” yağmurlu sounds like “yaa-murlu.”
ı (dotless i) is a back, unrounded vowel, like the 'e' in “taken” when mumbled: kalıyorum ≈ “kah-luh-YO-rum.”

Is o yüzden one word or two? What about onun için?

It’s two words: o + yüzden. Don’t write oyüzden.
Onun için also means “for that reason/because of that,” but it can be ambiguous with “for him/her.” O yüzden is unambiguous and very common.

Why is it -de (not -te) in evde?

The locative alternates -de/-da vs -te/-ta by consonant voicing: after voiceless consonants (p, ç, t, k, f, h, s, ş) use -te/-ta; otherwise -de/-da. ev ends in voiced v, so evde. Vowel harmony picks -de (front vowel) rather than -da.

Can I move o yüzden or change the word order?

Keeping the cause → result flow is natural: Hava yağmurlu, o yüzden evde kalıyorum.
You can split into two sentences: Hava yağmurlu. O yüzden evde kalıyorum.
Mid-clause placement (e.g., Evde kalıyorum, o yüzden) is colloquial/afterthought and less formal.
The core order “adverbials + verb at the end” is default; moving parts for emphasis is possible but can sound marked.