Learn Hardcore Turkish: Muz olgunlaşınca tadı daha güzel oluyor. - When the banana ripens, its taste becomes better.

The suffix -ınca/-ince/-unca/-ünce turns a verb into a time clause meaning when / once / whenever. So olgunlaşınca = when/once it ripens. In habitual statements, it can feel like whenever. It is primarily temporal (not conditional like if), though in some contexts it can imply a causal relationship (e.g., When X happened, Y resulted).

How is olgunlaşınca built morphologically?

olgun (ripe, mature) +
-laş- (become/make, inchoative) → olgunlaş- (to ripen) +
-ınca (when/once) → olgunlaşınca (when it ripens)

Vowel harmony picks -ınca here because the last vowel before the suffix is a back vowel (a), so the variant with ı is used (a/ı → ınca, e/i → ince, o/u → unca, ö/ü → ünce).

Why is it oluyor instead of olur?

oluyor (present progressive) often conveys a tendency or regularly observed change: it gets/becomes nicer.
olur (aorist/simple present) states a general truth or rule: it becomes nicer (as a rule). Both are correct here. oluyor sounds a bit more dynamic/experiential; olur sounds more gnomic/general.

Can I drop oluyor/olur and just say Muz olgunlaşınca tadı daha güzel?

You can, but the meaning shifts. Without olur/oluyor, the second clause is a nominal sentence: at the time of ripening, its taste is nicer (a state). With olur/oluyor, you highlight the change: its taste becomes nicer. For the idea of change, keep olur/oluyor.

What exactly does tadı mean, and why isn’t it just tat?

tadı = tat (taste) + third-person possessive -ı → “its taste.”
Because of consonant voicing, tat + ı becomes tadı (t → d before a vowel). The dotless ı is the possessive vowel chosen by vowel harmony after a.

Where is the possessor? Why not say muzun tadı?

The possessor is understood from context (the banana mentioned earlier). In Turkish, once the possessor is clear, you can use just the possessed noun with a possessive suffix: tadı = its taste. You could say Muz olgunlaşınca, muzun tadı…, but it sounds repetitive; the shorter tadı is more natural here.

Is muz singular here, or does it mean bananas in general?

Bare singular nouns often express generic statements in Turkish. Muz here means bananas in general. If you prefer explicit plural, use muzlar, but then you should usually adjust agreement elsewhere (see next Q).

If I say Muzlar olgunlaşınca, what changes later in the sentence?

Use plural possession for clarity:

Muzlar olgunlaşınca tatları daha güzel oluyor/olur.
Here tatları = their taste(s). Using tadı after muzlar is heard, but tatları aligns better with the plural subject.

Why is the word order tadı daha güzel oluyor? Can I say daha güzel oluyor tadı?

Default, most neutral is to keep the possessed noun next to its descriptor: tadı daha güzel oluyor.
Saying daha güzel oluyor tadı is possible but puts focus on tadı (“it’s the taste that becomes nicer”), which is marked and less neutral.

Does daha güzel sound natural for taste? Would daha lezzetli be better?

Both are fine:

daha güzel = nicer/pleasant; very common, natural in everyday speech about taste.
daha lezzetli = more flavorful/tastier; more specific to taste. You can also use a change-of-state verb: tadı lezzetleniyor (its taste is getting tastier).

What does daha do exactly? How would I say “even more”?

daha marks the comparative: daha güzel = more/nicer.
For “even more,” say daha da: tadı daha da güzel oluyor (its taste gets even nicer).

Why isn’t there any accusative marking? Shouldn’t it be tadını?

No. olmak is a copular verb; it links a subject to a predicate. Here:

Subject: tadı (its taste)
Predicate adjective: daha güzel
Verb: oluyor There’s no direct object, so no accusative.

Could I use a different “when” structure, like olgunlaştığında or olgunlaştığı zaman?

Yes:

Muz olgunlaştığında… (when it ripens)
Muz olgunlaştığı zaman… (when/at the time it ripens) These use the nominalized -DIK structure with possessive agreement. They’re a bit more explicit/formal. -ınca is shorter and very common.

What’s the difference between olgunlaşınca and olgunlaştıktan sonra?

olgunlaşınca = when/once it ripens (often immediate or general timing).
olgunlaştıktan sonra = after it ripens (explicitly after, not necessarily immediately).
Both work; choose based on the timing nuance you want.

How is oluyor formed, and why the u?

Root: ol- (to be/become)
Progressive: -yor, but Turkish inserts a harmony vowel before -yor.
Since the last vowel in the root environment is back and rounded, you get ol-uyor → oluyor. Compare: gel-iyor → geliyor, bil-iyor → biliyor.

Any pronunciation tips for tricky letters here?

ı (dotless ı) in tadı and olgunlaşınca is like the vowel in English “roses” or the second vowel in “sofa” (a central, unstressed sound).
ş is “sh.”
Final yor is pronounced as one unit: “yor,” not “iyor” as two syllables.