Learn Hardcore Turkish: Uzun bir günden sonra koltukta kestirmek iyi gelir; bazen beş dakikada uykuya dalarım. - After a long day, taking a quick nap on the couch feels good; sometimes I fall asleep in five minutes.

Because sonra is a postposition that typically takes the ablative case (-den/-dan). So you say işten sonra (after work), yemekten sonra (after the meal), dersten sonra (after class), and here günden sonra (after the day). Without the ablative, it sounds ungrammatical in standard Turkish.

What does kestirmek mean here? I thought it meant “to have something cut” or “to estimate.”

You’re right that kestirmek can mean:

“to have something cut” (causative of kesmek): Saçımı kestirdim (I had my hair cut).
“to estimate/guess”: Fiyatı kestiremiyorum (I can’t estimate the price).

But it also has an idiomatic intransitive meaning: “to nap/to doze.” In this sentence, kestirmek = “to take a nap.” Context disambiguates the meaning.

Why is it koltukta? Does koltuk mean “sofa” or “armchair”?

Koltuk is a general word that can refer to an armchair or a couch, depending on context. If you specifically mean a sofa, you can also say kanepe: kanepede kestirmek. The locative -DA makes “on/in the X,” so koltukta = “on the couch/armchair.”

Why is the verb in the infinitive kestirmek used as the subject of iyi gelir?

Turkish often uses the -mak/-mek infinitive as a verbal noun to serve as the subject or object. Here, koltukta kestirmek functions as a noun phrase: “napping on the couch.” You could make it personal with a pronoun: Koltukta kestirmek bana iyi gelir (Napping on the couch does me good).

What’s the nuance of iyi gelir compared to just iyidir?

İyi gelir literally “comes good,” idiomatically “does (someone) good / is beneficial (for someone).” It’s used for remedies, habits, and things that have a helpful effect: Limonlu çay boğazıma iyi gelir.
İyidir means “is good” (descriptive, more static).
In this sentence, iyi gelir is more natural because it highlights the beneficial effect of napping.

Why is it gelir (aorist) and not geliyor (present continuous)?

The aorist in Turkish expresses general truths, habits, and regular effects. İyi gelir states a general tendency (“it does one good”). İyi geliyor would sound like “it is doing (me) good now/these days,” more specific to the current period.

Could I add bana to make it explicit that it’s good for me?

Yes: Uzun bir günden sonra koltukta kestirmek bana iyi gelir.
You can also generalize with insana (“to a person/people”): …insana iyi gelir. Omitting it still sounds natural, with a generic “one/you” or implicit “me.”

Is the semicolon necessary here?

No, it’s stylistic. Turkish uses semicolons much like English to link closely related independent clauses. You could also write a period: …iyi gelir. Bazen… Or a comma works in casual writing, though a period is cleaner.

Where can bazen go?

Common and natural positions:

Bazen beş dakikada uykuya dalarım.
Beş dakikada bazen uykuya dalarım. (less common but acceptable)
Beş dakikada uykuya bazen dalarım. (unusual; adverbs typically come before the verb or early in the clause) Fronting bazen is the most typical for “sometimes.”

Why uykuya dalarım instead of uyurum?

Uyumak = “to sleep.”
Uykuya dalmak = “to fall asleep” (literally, “to dive into sleep”). So uykuya dalarım emphasizes the moment of falling asleep, which matches “(sometimes) I fall asleep in five minutes.”

What’s the function of the dative in uykuya?

The dative -A often marks a goal/endpoint. Uyku (sleep) + -ya (to) + dalmak (to dive/plunge) = “to plunge into sleep,” i.e., to fall asleep. Compare:

Uykum var/uykum geldi = I’m sleepy / sleepiness came to me.
Uykuda = “in sleep” (locative).

Why is it beş dakikada with the locative -da? Does that mean “in five minutes”?

Yes. The locative is used for time expressions meaning “in/within X time” to complete something: Bir saatte biter (It finishes in an hour), İki günde alışırım (I get used to it in two days).
You can also say beş dakika içinde, which is a bit more explicit. Be careful: beş dakika sonra = “five minutes later,” not “in five minutes (to fall asleep).”

Why is it dalarım (aorist) and not dalıyorum?

The aorist expresses habitual or general tendencies: Bazen … dalarım = “I sometimes (tend to) fall asleep.” Dalıyorum would describe what’s happening now or a current ongoing pattern (“these days I keep falling asleep”), which is a different nuance.

Could I say yorucu bir günden sonra instead of uzun bir günden sonra?

Yes, but the nuance changes:

Uzun bir günden sonra = after a long day (duration).
Yorucu/yoran bir günden sonra = after a tiring day (effort/fatigue). Both are idiomatic; choose based on what you want to emphasize.

Is şekerleme yapmak a good synonym for kestirmek?

Yes. Şekerleme yapmak means “to take a (short) nap” and is common and neutral. Note that şekerleme also means “candy,” but in this collocation it means “nap.” Other options: kısa bir uyku çekmek, biraz uyuklamak (to doze).

I see koltukta, not koltukda. Why the -ta instead of -da?

The locative suffix alternates as -DA/-DE or -TA/-TE. After a voiceless consonant (like k, p, t, ç, f, h, s, ş), the suffix uses the voiceless t:

koltuk → koltukta
kitap → kitapta
After voiced sounds or vowels, it’s -da/-de: evde, odada.

What’s the difference between beş dakikada and beş dakikada bir?

Beş dakikada = “in five minutes” (time needed to do something).
Beş dakikada bir = “once every five minutes” (frequency).
Don’t mix them up: Beş dakikada uykuya dalarım ≠ Beş dakikada bir uykuya dalarım.

Do I need bir in uzun bir gün? Can I say uzun gün?

Use bir for an indefinite singular count noun: uzun bir gün (“a long day”). Uzun gün without bir typically refers to the concept of long days in general or appears in fixed expressions; in this specific meaning (“after a long day”), uzun bir gün is the natural choice.

Are there other natural ways to phrase the first half?

Yes:

Uzun bir günün ardından koltukta kestirmek iyi gelir. (more formal/literary with ardından
- genitive)
Uzun bir günün sonunda koltukta biraz kestirmek iyi gelir. (“at the end of a long day,” adds biraz = a bit) All keep the same idea with slight stylistic shifts.