Dondurucunun kapağı açık kalınca buzlar eriyor.

When the freezer door stays open, the ice melts.

Breakdown of Dondurucunun kapağı açık kalınca buzlar eriyor.

• kalmak: to stay
• açık: open
• -ınca: when
• kapak: the lid
• buz: the ice
• -nun: of
• dondurucu: the freezer
• erimek: to melt

Questions & Answers about Dondurucunun kapağı açık kalınca buzlar eriyor.

What does the suffix in kalınca mean?

• -ınca/-ince/-unca/-ünce means “when/whenever/once.”
• Here, kal- (to stay/remain) + -ınca → kalınca = “when (it) stays/remains.”
• The subject of this “when”-clause is the NP in the clause itself: Dondurucunun kapağı (the freezer’s lid).

Why use açık kalınca instead of açık olunca?

• açık kalmak = “to remain open,” implying it’s been left open for some time.
• açık olmak = “to be open,” a neutral state description.
• Both are correct:
  
  • kapağı açık kalınca emphasizes “left/stays open.”
  • kapağı açık olunca emphasizes the state “when it is open.”

Is açıkken also correct?

Yes. -ken means “while/when in the state of.”

• Dondurucunun kapağı açıkken buzlar eriyor = “While the freezer’s lid is open, the ice melts.”
• Nuance: -ken highlights a concurrent state; -ınca feels more like “whenever/once” and often suggests a trigger.

What grammar is going on in Dondurucunun kapağı?

It’s the Genitive–Possessive construction:

• dondurucu-nun = “of the freezer” (genitive)
• kapak-ı → kapağı = “its lid” (3rd person possessive) Both sides must be marked: possessor with genitive, possessed with 3rd person possessive.

Why is it kapağı (with ğ) and not just kapak?

• You need the 3rd person possessive: kapak
  • -ı → “its lid.”
• Consonant softening applies: final k → ğ before a vowel suffix: kapak → kapağı.
• Pronunciation: ğ lengthens the preceding vowel; it’s not a hard “g.”

Should it be kapı (door) or kapak (lid)?

• kapı = door; kapak = lid/cover.
• For an upright freezer, people often say kapısı (door). For a chest freezer, kapağı (lid) is natural. In casual speech, kapak may be used broadly for appliance covers.

Why is buzlar plural? Could I say just buz?

• buzlar = “the ice (pieces/sheets)” or “ice” as a set; it can sound more concrete/collective (e.g., all the ice in the freezer).
• buz (singular/mass) = “ice” as a substance.
  Both are possible; buzlar eriyor is very idiomatic in everyday contexts.

Shouldn’t the verb agree with the plural subject (e.g., eriyorlar)?

No. With non-human plural subjects, the verb normally stays in 3rd person singular:

• ✅ Buzlar eriyor.
• ❌ Buzlar eriyorlar. (usually wrong/marked; plural verb agreement is mainly for human subjects and special emphasis)

Why use eriyor instead of erir?

• eriyor (present continuous) often narrates regular outcomes with -ınca clauses, e.g., “Akşam olunca hava kararıyor.”
• erir (aorist) states a general rule/habit.
  Both are correct:
• … buzlar eriyor = a vivid, immediate result whenever that condition happens.
• … buzlar erir = a more gnomic, rule-like statement.

How is eriyor built from the dictionary form erimek?

• Dictionary: eri-mek (to melt).
• Stem: eri-.
• Progressive: -yor → eri-yor.
• 3rd singular has no extra ending → eriyor.

Where is the “is/are” in “kapağı açık”? Why no verb there?

Turkish doesn’t use a separate “to be” in the present for nominal/adjectival predicates.

• kapağı açık literally “its lid [is] open.”
  The verb kalınca supplies the event “when it remains.”

Could I say kaldığında instead of kalınca?

Yes. kaldığında = “when it stays,” formed as:

• kal-
  • -dık (nominalizer) → kaldık-
• • 3sg possessive → kaldığı
• • locative → kaldığında
    It’s a bit more formal/literary than kalınca.

What’s the difference between -ınca and the conditional -sa/-se (e.g., kalırsa)?

• -ınca: “when/whenever,” more factual/temporal trigger.
• -sa/-se: “if,” more hypothetical/contingent. Both work here with slightly different nuance:
• açık kalınca buzlar erir/eriyor = whenever it’s left open, the ice melts.
• açık kalırsa buzlar erir = if it happens to be left open, the ice will/might melt.

Any vowel harmony I should notice?

Yes:

• -ınca matches the last vowel of the verb stem: kal- (a) → -ınca.
• Genitive on dondurucu: last vowel u → -nun → dondurucu-nun.
• 3sg possessive on kapak: last vowel a → -ı → kapağı.

Any pronunciation tips for this sentence?

• ı (dotless) in açık and kapağı is a back, unstressed “uh” sound.
• ğ in kapağı lengthens the preceding vowel; it’s not a hard “g.”
• c in dondurucu is pronounced like English “j” in “jam”; ç in açık is “ch.”

Can I move the parts around?

Yes. Common variants:

• Dondurucunun kapağı açık kalınca, buzlar eriyor. (as given; a comma is fine after the -ınca clause)
• Buzlar, dondurucunun kapağı açık kalınca, eriyor. (focus on “the ice”) Placing the -ınca clause at the end is possible but less common in neutral style.

Why not use eritiyor instead of eriyor?

• erimek (intransitive) = “to melt (by itself).” → buzlar eriyor = “the ice is melting.”
• eritmek (transitive) = “to melt (something).” → Ben buzu eritiyorum = “I am melting the ice.” Your sentence describes the ice melting on its own, so eriyor is correct.