Learn Hardcore Turkish: Sızıntı büyümeden tesisatçıyı aradım. - I called the plumber before the leak got bigger.

“without V‑ing,” and very often, by context, “before (it) V’s.” Morphology: büyü- (to grow) + -me (negation) + -den (ablative) → “without growing / before it grows.” It carries no tense itself; its time is understood relative to the main verb (aradım, past).

Do I need to say büyümeden önce, or is büyümeden alone okay?

Both are acceptable here.

Sızıntı büyümeden önce… is explicitly “before the leak grows/grew.”
Sızıntı büyümeden… often means the same in practice, though literally “without the leak growing.” If you want to remove any ambiguity, use -meden önce.

Who is the subject of büyümeden in this sentence?

It’s the nearby noun sızıntı (“the leak”). In Sızıntı büyümeden, the implicit subject of the converb is the leak. If you dropped the noun and said just Büyümeden tesisatçıyı aradım, it would be awkward/ambiguous (“Before growing, I called…”—who’s growing?). So the noun anchors the subject of the converb.

Why is it tesisatçıyı (accusative) and not just tesisatçı?

Because the object is specific/definite (“the plumber”). In Turkish, definite direct objects take the accusative -(y)ı/‑i/‑u/‑ü.

Definite: tesisatçıyı aradım = I called the (known/specific) plumber.
Indefinite: bir tesisatçı aradım = I looked for a plumber (often understood as “searched for,” not “phoned”).

Why is there a y in tesisatçıyı?

It’s the buffer consonant y used when adding a vowel-initial suffix to a vowel-final word: tesisatçı + ı → tesisatçı(y)ı. The accusative also obeys vowel harmony: last vowel is back unrounded (ı), so the suffix is -ı.

Does aramak mean “to call” or “to look for”? Which one is meant here?

Both exist. With a human direct object in the accusative, it usually means “to call (by phone).”

Tesisatçıyı aradım → I phoned the plumber.
With an indefinite object or no accusative, it often reads as “search for”:
Bir tesisatçı aradım → I looked for a plumber.

How is aradım formed, and why is it with -dı?

Morphology: ara- (call/search) + past -DI (here → -dı by vowel harmony) + 1sg -m → aradım (“I called”). The past suffix -DI has four forms (-dı/-di/-du/-dü) and uses -t- after voiceless consonants.

Can I add ben (“I”), or is it normally omitted?

It’s normally omitted because the verb ending -m already shows 1st person singular. Add Ben only for emphasis or contrast:

Ben, sızıntı büyümeden tesisatçıyı aradım (I, as opposed to someone else, called…).

Is the word order fixed, or can I move things around?

Turkish is flexible, but the neutral order is: [adverbial clause] [object] [verb]. Variants:

Tesisatçıyı sızıntı büyümeden aradım. (Object in focus)
Sızıntı büyümeden aradım tesisatçıyı. (Less neutral; verb usually prefers final position) Shifts change emphasis/focus more than meaning.

Could I say büyüdükten önce to mean “before it grew”?

No. Use -meden/-madan (önce) for “before,” and -diktan/-dıktan sonra for “after.”

Before: büyümeden (önce)
After: büyüdükten sonra
When/at the time: büyüdüğünde (“when it grew/gets bigger” depending on context)

How can I express “before it got any bigger”?

Add daha (optionally da) to intensify:

Sızıntı daha (da) büyümeden tesisatçıyı aradım. = “before it got any bigger.”
You can also say daha fazla for “any more/further”: daha fazla büyümeden.

Could I use another verb instead of büyümek here?

Yes, depending on nuance:

artmak (to increase): Sızıntı artmadan…
yayılmak (to spread): Sızıntı yayılmadan…
For the situation rather than the leak: Durum kötüleşmeden…
With büyütmek (causative “to make it grow”), the meaning changes:
Sızıntıyı büyütmeden… = “without worsening the leak (by my own actions).” That’s different from the leak growing on its own (büyümeden).

Does büyümeden imply the leak didn’t grow at all, or just that I acted early?

Literally it’s “without it growing,” so it can imply you acted in time and prevented further growth. In real usage, it often just means “before it got bigger” regardless of what happened later. If you want to be unambiguously temporal, büyümeden önce is clearest.

Do I need a comma after Sızıntı büyümeden?

Optional. A short adverbial clause at the start can take a comma for readability, but it isn’t required:

Sızıntı büyümeden(,) tesisatçıyı aradım.

Any tips for pronouncing the tricky letters in these words?

ı (dotless i) in sızıntı, tesisatçı, aradım: a close, central unrounded vowel (not like English i). Think a relaxed “uh” but shorter and central.
ü in büyümeden: like German “ü” or French “u” (rounded front vowel).
ç in tesisatçı: “ch” as in “church.”
ğ (not present here) would lengthen the preceding vowel rather than make a hard sound.

Is tesisatçı the usual word for “plumber” in Turkey?

Yes. People commonly say tesisatçı (often specifically a water plumber: su tesisatçısı). You may also hear usta (master/repairman) in everyday speech for tradespeople. Kaçak is another word you’ll meet around plumbing/gas contexts, meaning a “leak” (e.g., gaz kaçağı), while sızıntı is “seepage/leak.”