Hava kararmadan eve dönüyorum.

I return home before it gets dark.

Breakdown of Hava kararmadan eve dönüyorum.

• ev: the house
• hava: the weather
• -e: to
• -madan: before

Questions & Answers about Hava kararmadan eve dönüyorum.

What does the form kararmadan literally mean and how is it built?

It’s the negative converb meaning “without V‑ing / before V‑ing.” Formation: verb stem + -ma/-me (negation) + -dan/-den (ablative).

• kararmak (to get dark) → stem karar-
  • ma
    • dan → kararmadan = “without getting dark,” used temporally as “before it gets dark.”

Do I need önce after kararmadan?

No. -madan already means “before.”

• Hava kararmadan eve dönüyorum. = “I return home before it gets dark.”
  Adding önce is also common and a bit more explicit/emphatic:
• Hava kararmadan önce eve dönüyorum. (also correct and natural)

Why is it hava? Doesn’t hava mean “air”?

In Turkish, hava covers “weather/sky/outdoor light.” The idiom hava kararmak means “it gets dark (outside).” So Hava kararmadan = “before it gets dark (outside).”

Can I drop hava and just say Kararmadan?