Learn Hardcore Turkish: Ben yarın sabah erken kalkmak için telefonuma alarm kuruyorum. - I am setting an alarm on my phone to get up early tomorrow morning.

You can drop it. The verb ending in kuruyorum already shows the subject is “I.” Use Ben only for emphasis or contrast (e.g., “I, not someone else”).

Why isn’t it alarmı? When do I add the accusative -ı?

In Turkish, a direct object stays bare when it’s indefinite (“an alarm”). You add accusative only for a specific/known object.

Indefinite: Telefonuma alarm kuruyorum. = I’m setting an alarm.
Definite/specific: Telefonuma alarmı kuruyorum. = I’m setting the alarm (the one we both know about, e.g., the 6 a.m. one we discussed).

What exactly does telefonuma mean morphologically?

telefon = phone
-um = my (1st person singular possessive)
-a = to (dative case) Vowel harmony picks the back forms: -um, -a. So: “to my phone.”

Why dative (telefonuma) and not locative (telefonumda)?

With kurmak (“to set/establish”), the device you set something on is treated as a target, so the dative (-a/-e) is natural.

Action/target: Telefona/telefonuma alarm kurdum. (I set an alarm on the phone.)
Location/state: Telefonumda alarm var / alarm kurulu. (There is an alarm on my phone / An alarm is set on my phone.)

How does -mak için work here?

-mak/-mek + için means “in order to [verb].” So erken kalkmak için = “in order to get up early.” It follows either a verb in infinitive or a noun:

Erken kalkmak için…
Yarın için…

Are there alternatives to -mak için for “in order to”?

Yes:

Colloquial: … kalkayım diye … (so that I get up) → Yarın sabah erken kalkayım diye telefonuma alarm kuruyorum.
Formal/plan: … kalkmak üzere …
Formal: … kalkmak amacıyla … All mean purpose, with slight differences in tone.

What’s the difference between kalkmak and uyanmak?

uyanmak = to wake up (open your eyes).
kalkmak = to get up (physically get out of bed/stand up). You can say either depending on what you mean:
Erken uyanmak için… (to wake up early)
Erken kalkmak için… (to get up early)

Is the word order natural? Could I move things around?

Yes, the given order is natural. Turkish is generally SOV, and modifiers/time expressions typically come before the verb:

Default: Yarın sabah erken kalkmak için telefonuma alarm kuruyorum. You can move constituents for emphasis:
Telefonuma yarın sabah erken kalkmak için alarm kuruyorum. (focus on “to my phone”) Keep the finite verb (kuruyorum) at the end.

Could I say yarın erken sabah or erken yarın sabah?

No. The natural chunk is yarın sabah (“tomorrow morning”). The adverb erken modifies kalkmak, so it stays with the verb phrase: yarın sabah erken kalkmak. You may also hear yarın sabah erkenden (a bit more colloquial/emphatic).

What tense/aspect is kuruyorum, and does it imply now or future?

It’s present continuous (progressive): “I am setting.” Here it likely means you’re doing it now. Turkish also uses this form for near-future plans with time words, but in this sentence the act of setting is happening in the present for a future purpose.

How is kuruyorum formed, and why is there a y?

Root: kur- (set). Progressive: -(I)yor. Because the last vowel of the root is back/rounded (u), the suffix surfaces as -uyor. Then add -um (I).

kur- + -uyor + -um → kuruyorum The y is part of -yor; it’s not an extra buffer inserted between vowels in this case.

Can I say alarm ayarlıyorum instead of alarm kuruyorum?

Yes. Both are common:

alarm kurmak = to set an alarm (general “set up”)
alarm ayarlamak = to set/adjust an alarm (often with an emphasis on choosing a time) They’re largely interchangeable in everyday speech.

Could I use the future tense instead: kuracağım?

If you mean you will set it later (not right now), use future:

Yarın sabah erken kalkmak için telefonuma alarm kuracağım. = I will set an alarm on my phone (at some later point). If you’re doing it now, stick with kuruyorum.

Do I have to say telefonuma, or could I just say telefona?

You can say telefona (“to the phone”) if ownership is obvious or irrelevant. Telefonuma explicitly marks it as “to my phone,” which is usually what you mean in this context.

Can I drop sabah and just say yarın erken?

You can say Yarın erken kalkmak için…, and it’s fine (it means “early tomorrow”). Yarın sabah is more specific (“tomorrow morning”), which is often what people intend when talking about alarms.