Learn Hardcore Turkish: Bayat kuruyemiş almak yerine taze olanları sepete koyuyoruz. - Instead of buying stale nuts, we put the fresh ones into the basket.

In Turkish, almak covers both “to take” and “to buy.” In shopping contexts, it naturally means “to buy.” So kuruyemiş almak is “to buy nuts” unless the context suggests physically taking something without paying.

Why is yerine placed after almak? Shouldn’t “instead of” come before the verb?

Yerine is a postposition in Turkish, so it follows the word/phrase it relates to.

With a noun: çay yerine kahve (coffee instead of tea)
With a verb: use the infinitive: almak yerine (instead of buying) So bayat kuruyemiş almak yerine = “instead of buying stale nuts.”

Why isn’t bayat pluralized (why not bayat kuruyemişler)?

Adjectives in Turkish do not agree in number or gender. You keep bayat unchanged before the noun. Also, kuruyemiş can function like a mass/indefinite noun in shopping: bayat kuruyemiş almak = “to buy stale nuts.” If you specifically mean “the stale nuts,” you’d mark the noun: bayat kuruyemişleri (accusative plural).

What exactly is kuruyemiş? Does it mean nuts only, or dried fruit too?

Kuruyemiş is a broad term for snackable nuts and seeds (e.g., almonds, hazelnuts, sunflower seeds) and often includes mixes that may contain raisins or other dried fruits. If you specifically mean “dried fruit,” use kuru meyve. Orthography: it’s standardly one word, kuruyemiş.

Why is it taze olanları with the ending -ları?

Because it’s a specific direct object and plural: “the fresh ones.”

olan is “that is/are” (a participle of olmak “to be”).
olanlar = “the ones that are …”
Add accusative for a specific direct object: olanlar
- -ı → olanları. The ending -ları here is plural (-lar) + accusative (-ı) combined.

Could I just say tazeleri instead of taze olanları?

Yes. Tazeleri also means “the fresh ones.”

taze olanları is more explicit/relative-like (“the ones that are fresh”).
tazeleri is shorter and very natural in speech. Both are correct here.

Why do we use sepete and not sepette?

sepete (dative -e/-a) expresses motion/direction: “into the basket.”
sepette (locative -de/-da) expresses location: “in the basket.” Since we’re putting something into the basket, sepete is required.

Could I say sepetin içine instead of sepete?

Yes. Sepete and sepetin içine both mean “into the basket.”

sepete is shorter and very common.
sepetin içine is a bit more explicit/literal (“into the inside of the basket”).

Is the word order fixed? Can I move phrases around?

Turkish word order is flexible for emphasis. All of these are grammatical:

Taze olanları sepete koyuyoruz. (neutral, object focus)
Sepete taze olanları koyuyoruz. (focus on destination)
Taze olanları koyuyoruz sepete. (end-focus on destination; more colloquial/stylistic) The finite verb typically comes near the end, but elements can move for emphasis.

Why not use koyarız instead of koyuyoruz?

koyuyoruz: present continuous (“we are putting,” also used for near future or ongoing action now).
koyarız: aorist/habitual (“we put [as a rule/habit]”).
koyacağız: future (“we will put”). Choose based on nuance: ongoing/now vs habitual vs future plan.

What is olan doing here? Is it necessary?

Olan is the participle of olmak (“to be”), used to form “the one(s) that is/are …”

taze olan = “the one that is fresh”
taze olanlar = “the ones that are fresh” It lets you avoid repeating the noun. It’s not strictly necessary; you can also say tazeleri with the same meaning here.

Why is there no subject pronoun biz? How do we know it’s “we”?

The verb ending shows the subject:

koyuyor-uz → “we are putting.”
Turkish usually drops subject pronouns unless needed for emphasis or contrast. You could say Biz … koyuyoruz to emphasize “we.”

Do we always mark the object with accusative like -ı/-i/-u/-ü?

Only when the direct object is specific/definite.

Indefinite: elma alıyorum (I’m buying apples) — no accusative.
Definite: elmaları alıyorum (I’m buying the apples) — accusative plural. In our sentence, “the fresh ones” are specific, so taze olanları takes accusative.

How does koymak handle its arguments? Which cases go where?

Template: “put X into Y” → X-(y)i Y-(y)e koymak

Direct object X: accusative (-ı/-i/-u/-ü)
Destination Y: dative (-e/-a) Example: Taze olanları sepete koyuyoruz.

Could we use bayatlamış instead of bayat? Any nuance?

Both work:

bayat = stale (as an adjective)
bayatlamış = “has gone stale” (result state) So bayat kuruyemiş and bayatlamış kuruyemiş are both natural; bayatlamış can emphasize the process/result of becoming stale.