Learn Hardcore Turkish: Gece uykuya dalmadan önce alarmı kurarım; sabah annem gerekirse beni uyandırır. - Before falling asleep at night, I set the alarm; in the morning my mother wakes me if necessary.

They are in the Turkish aorist (geniş zaman), which expresses habits, routines, general truths, or scheduled/typical actions. So the sentence reads as a routine: setting the alarm at night; mom wakes me up in the morning if needed. Using the progressive (kuruyorum / uyandırıyor) would sound like “these days / currently (as an arrangement) I’m setting it / she’s waking me,” not a timeless habit. The future (kuracağım / uyandıracak) would be about a specific future time or plan.

Why is it alarmı (with the accusative -ı)? Could I also say alarm kurarım?

alarmı kurarım: definite direct object. It implies a specific, known alarm (e.g., the alarm on my phone/clock).
alarm kurarım: indefinite direct object. It feels like “I set an alarm (some alarm)” and is also fine, especially when you’re speaking generally.

Both are possible; the original chooses definiteness (“the alarm”). In Turkish, definite direct objects take -ı/-i/-u/-ü; indefinite ones are left bare.

Is alarmı ambiguous with “his/her alarm”?

Not here. As an object:

“the alarm” (definite object) = alarmı
“his/her alarm” as an object would be = alarmını

Subject position can create ambiguity (e.g., Alarmı çaldı = “His/her alarm rang”). But in your sentence alarmı is clearly the object of kurarım, so it’s “the alarm.”

Why are Gece and sabah used without the locative suffix (-de/-da)?

Time-of-day words like gece, sabah, öğlen, akşam, gündüz often function as adverbs by themselves, meaning “at night,” “in the morning,” etc. You can also say:

geceleri = “at nights, at night (habitually)”
bu sabah, o gece to refer to a specific morning/night Using gecede is uncommon for this adverbial meaning.

What does the dative in uykuya do? Why not uykuda?

The verb dalmak (“to dive/plunge”) takes the dative for the thing you go into. Hence:

uykuya dalmak = “to fall into sleep” (fall asleep)
Compare: denize dalmak = “to dive into the sea” Uykuda means “in (a state of) sleep,” which doesn’t fit with dalmak.

How does -madan önce work? Does -madan by itself mean “without doing”?

Yes:

-madan alone = “without doing X.”
Example: Kahvaltı yapmadan işe gidiyorum. = “I go to work without having breakfast.”
-madan önce = “before doing X.”
Example: Uykuya dalmadan önce alarmı kurarım. = “Before falling asleep, I set the alarm.”

So here, dalmadan önce is “before (I) fall asleep.”

Could I say uyumadan önce or yatmadan önce instead of uykuya dalmadan önce?

Yes, both are natural, with slight nuance:

uyumadan önce = “before sleeping/going to sleep” (general)
yatmadan önce = “before going to bed” (focus on going to bed)
uykuya dalmadan önce = “before falling asleep” (focus on the moment you drift off)

All work in everyday speech; choose the one that matches your emphasis.

How flexible is the word order in Sabah annem gerekirse beni uyandırır?

Quite flexible. Natural variants include:

Sabah, gerekirse annem beni uyandırır.
Sabah annem beni gerekirse uyandırır.
Annem sabah, gerekirse, beni uyandırır. Core preferences:
Keep the object beni close to the verb uyandırır.
gerekirse can float (it’s a sentence adverb), but don’t split the verb and its object too unnaturally.
Ending with gerekirse is possible as an afterthought but is less neutral.

What exactly does gerekirse mean, and how is it formed? Any synonyms?

Meaning: “if necessary,” “if need be.” It’s a sentential adverb.
Formation: gerek-ir-se = “if it is necessary” (aorist + conditional).
Common alternatives: lazımsa, gerekli olursa, ihtiyaç olursa, icap ederse (more formal/literary). Placement is flexible: Sabah, gerekirse, annem… / Sabah annem, gerekirse, …

Is the semicolon necessary? Could I use ve?

The semicolon joins two closely related independent clauses and reads smoothly. You could also write:

Gece … kurarım ve sabah annem gerekirse beni uyandırır. A comma alone would be too weak; a period would be fine but a bit more separation. ama (“but”) would change the meaning.

Why annem and not benim annem?

The possessive is already encoded in anne-m (“my mother”). Benim annem is used for contrast/emphasis (“my mother” as opposed to someone else’s, or not my father, etc.). Neutral statement = annem.

Why beni (accusative) and not bana (dative)?

Because uyandırmak (“to wake [someone] up”) takes a direct object:

beni uyandırır = “(she) wakes me up” (direct object, accusative) Bana would be “to me,” used with verbs that govern the dative (e.g., bana yardım eder = “helps me”).

What’s the difference between uyandırır, uyandırıyor, and uyandıracak?

uyandırır (aorist): habit, general practice, schedule, willingness (“she will wake me up if needed” as a standing arrangement).
uyandırıyor (progressive): currently/these days doing it as an arrangement.
uyandıracak (future): “will wake (me) up” at a specific future time/plan.

How is uyandırır built morphologically?

uyan- = “wake up” (intransitive)
Causative -dır/-dir/-dur/-dür → uyandır- = “to wake (someone) up”
Aorist -ır/-ir/-ur/-ür → uyandırır = “(she/he) wakes (someone) up (habitually/typically)” Causative marks “cause to do”: uyanmak (to wake up) → uyandırmak (to make someone wake up).

Do I need to say Ben explicitly in the first clause?

No. The person is on the verb: kura-r-ım = “I set.” Adding Ben is only for emphasis/contrast:

Ben gece … kurarım; sabah annem … uyandırır. (I do X; my mom does Y.)

Any alternative natural ways to phrase the same idea?

Geceleri yatmadan önce alarmı (ya da alarmımı) kurarım; sabah gerekirse annem beni uyandırır.
Gece, uyumadan önce, telefonumun alarmını ayarlarım; sabah annem gerekirse beni kaldırır.
Notes:
ayarlamak is also common with alarms (“set/adjust”).
kaldırmak colloquially means “to get someone up” in the morning.