Learn Hardcore Turkish: Koç, “ısınmayı aksatmayın” dedi ve herkes koşmaya başladı. - The coach said “don’t skip the warm-up” and everyone started running.

Aksatmak means to disrupt, neglect, let something slip, or not do something regularly/fully (often a scheduled or expected activity). It’s weaker than “cancel,” stronger than a one-off “forget,” and often implies harming the routine or quality.

Close options:
- ihmal etmek = to neglect (broader, can be more serious/long-term)
- atlamak = to skip (outright skipping an instance)
- geciktirmek = to delay
- bozmak = to spoil/disrupt
- sekteye uğratmak (formal) = to interrupt/set back

How is aksatmayın formed morphologically?

aksat- (verb stem “to disrupt/neglect”)
-ma (negative)
buffer -y- (to avoid vowel clash)
-ın/-in/-un/-ün (2nd person plural/polite imperative; here harmonized as -ın) So: aksat- + ma + y + ın → aksatmayın = “don’t neglect (you-plural/you-polite).”

Who is being addressed by the ending -yın in aksatmayın?

It’s the 2nd person plural imperative, used for:

addressing a group: “you (all)”
or politely addressing one person Other forms:
2nd person singular informal: aksatma!
More formal/polite plural: aksatmayınız!

Why is ısınmayı in the accusative (-ı) case?

Isınma is a verbal noun (“warming up” / “the warm-up”). As the direct object of aksatmak, it appears as:

ısınma + -yı → ısınmayı (buffer -y- because two vowels would meet) Using the accusative here treats the activity as a specific/given routine (the team’s warm-up). Without -ı, it would sound odd or incomplete in this command. The accusative is very common with such activity-noun objects when they’re understood as the known, specific routine.

Is the -ma in ısınma the same as the negative -ma in aksatmayın?

No. Turkish -ma/-me does double duty:

In ısınma, it’s the nominalizer that makes a verb into a noun: “ısınmak” (to warm up) → ısınma (warming up, the warm-up).
In aksatmayın, it’s the negative marker on the verb. You tell them apart by context and endings. For example, ısınma! could be “don’t warm up!” (negative imperative) but ısınmayı must be a noun (it has accusative -yı).

Why is there a buffer -y- in ısınmayı and aksatmayın?

Turkish inserts -y- between vowels to prevent two vowels from clashing:

ısınma + ı → ısınma-y-ı
aksatma + ın → aksatma-y-ın This is a regular phonetic smoothing rule.

Why is it koşmaya (with -a) in koşmaya başladı?

With verbs like başlamak, Turkish uses the verbal noun in -ma/-me plus the dative -(y)a:

koş-ma-ya başlamak = to start running Other common patterns with -maya/-meye:
yapmaya çalışmak (try to do)
çalışmaya/okumaya devam etmek (continue working/reading)
konuşmaya başlamak (start speaking)

Could I say “koşmak başladı” instead?

No. You need the -maya/-meye form with başlamak: koşmaya başladı. The bare infinitive -mak/-mek is not used after başlamak to mean “start doing X.”

Why is it herkes … başladı (singular) and not “herkes … başladılar” (plural)?

Herkes (“everyone”) is grammatically singular in standard Turkish, so the verb is singular: herkes başladı. Using a plural verb (başladılar) with herkes occurs in some colloquial speech but is considered non-standard.

What’s going on with the comma and quotation marks: Koç, “ısınmayı aksatmayın” dedi …?

Turkish direct speech is commonly punctuated like this:

Subject + comma, then the quoted words, then dedi: Koç, “Isınmayı aksatmayın” dedi. Many publishers also put a comma inside the closing quote before dedi:
Koç, “Isınmayı aksatmayın,” dedi. Both are seen. A colon is also possible in some styles:
Koç: “Isınmayı aksatmayın.”

Why is Koç capitalized?

As a common noun, koç (coach/ram/Aries) is normally lowercase. It’s capitalized here likely because it’s used like a title or nickname (“the Coach”). Turkish often capitalizes titles when they stand in for a name in narrative or address (style-dependent). You could also write koç or use antrenör.

Can I use söyledi instead of dedi?

After a direct quotation, Turkish overwhelmingly uses dedi. Söyledi is more natural with reported/indirect content:

Direct: Koç, “Isınmayı aksatmayın,” dedi. (preferred)
Indirect: Koç, ısınmayı aksatmamamız gerektiğini söyledi. (reported content) You can also use other reporting verbs with suitable structures: uyardı (warned), emir verdi (ordered), bağırdı (shouted), often with diye: “Isınmayı aksatmayın,” diye bağırdı.

Could I replace ve with de in “dedi ve herkes koşmaya başladı”?

Yes, colloquially: dedi de herkes koşmaya başladı can mean “no sooner had he said it than everyone started running.” The conjunction de here (written separately) often adds a sense of immediate sequence or consequence. Ve is the neutral “and.”

Can I reorder the parts, like putting the action first?

Yes, Turkish word order is flexible when context is clear:

Herkes koşmaya başladı, koç ısınmayı aksatmayın dedi.
Or split into two sentences: Koç ısınmayı aksatmayın dedi. Herkes koşmaya başladı. Choice affects flow/emphasis more than grammaticality.

What exactly is ısınma here—“warming up” as an activity or a one-time event?

It’s the activity/the routine (the team’s warm-up session). Turkish often uses -ma/-me nouns to talk about activities: koşma (running), çalışma (working/study), alıştırma (exercise). With aksatmak, it implies “don’t neglect/disrupt the warm-up routine.” Alternatives:

ısınmayı ihmal etmeyin (don’t neglect)
ısınmayı atlamayın (don’t skip)

Is any subject or pronoun missing around dedi?

No. Turkish doesn’t require subject pronouns when the subject is clear. Koç … dedi already tells you who spoke; there’s no need for “he/she” on the verb.