Learn Hardcore Turkish: Toplantı öncesi deftere küçük bir eskiz çizdim. - I drew a small sketch in the notebook before the meeting.

Toplantı = meeting
öncesi = from önce (before) + 3rd person possessive -si → literally “its before,” used to mean “before X”
- Together: Toplantı öncesi = “before the meeting”
defter-e = defter (notebook) + dative -e → “to/into the notebook”
küçük bir eskiz = “a small sketch” (küçük = small; bir = a/one; eskiz = sketch)
çiz-di-m = çiz (draw) + past -di
- 1st sg -m → “I drew”

Natural translation: “I drew a small sketch in the notebook before the meeting.”

Why is it deftere (dative) instead of defterde (locative)?

With verbs like yazmak (to write) and çizmek (to draw), Turkish typically uses the dative to mark the target surface: deftere yazmak/çizmek (“write/draw into the notebook”).

deftere highlights the destination/target.
defterde (in/on the notebook) emphasizes location and is used for contrastive focus: Onu defterde çizdim (tahtada değil) = “I drew it in the notebook (not on the board).”
Other common parallels: tahtaya yazmak (write on the board), kâğıda çizmek (draw on paper).

Why use öncesi here? How is it different from toplantıdan önce?

Toplantı öncesi is a compact noun-based construction (“the pre-meeting [time]”), common in writing and headlines, but also fine in speech.
Toplantıdan önce uses önce as a postposition that requires the ablative (-dan): “before the meeting.”
Meaning is essentially the same; toplantıdan önce feels a bit more conversational.
You can also say:
Toplantı öncesinde (locative on the noun form) = “in the period before the meeting”
Full genitive is possible but heavier: toplantının öncesi/öncesinde.

Where is the subject?

It’s implicit in the verb ending. Çizdim ends with -m → 1st person singular, so the subject is ben (“I”). You could say Ben çizdim, but Turkish normally drops subject pronouns unless they need emphasis.

Why doesn’t eskiz take the accusative -i?

In Turkish, a direct object gets the accusative when it’s definite/specific. Here, küçük bir eskiz is indefinite (“a small sketch”), so it stays unmarked.

Indefinite: küçük bir eskiz çizdim = “I drew a small sketch.”
Definite: küçük eskizi çizdim = “I drew the small sketch (that we both know about).”

What does bir do here, and why is it after the adjective?

Bir functions as an indefinite article (“a/an”) here. With adjectives, the usual pattern is Adjective + bir + Noun: küçük bir ev, güzel bir fikir, küçük bir eskiz.
Placing bir before the adjective (bir küçük ev) makes bir more numeral-like (“one small house”), or gives it a specific/emphatic flavor.

Can I move parts around? How flexible is the word order?

Turkish is flexible, but the neutral order keeps new/focused information just before the verb. Your sentence is a natural order:

[Time] Toplantı öncesi
- [Goal] deftere
  - [Object] küçük bir eskiz
    - [Verb] çizdim.
      Acceptable variants (different emphasis):
Deftere toplantı öncesi küçük bir eskiz çizdim.
Toplantı öncesi küçük bir eskiz deftere çizdim (possible but less common/natural).
Putting the focused element right before çizdim highlights it.

What tense/aspect is çizdim? Could it also be “I have drawn”?

Çizdim is the simple past (-di past), usually for witnessed/completed events: “I drew.”
English sometimes uses present perfect (“I have drawn”) for current relevance, but Turkish doesn’t have a direct present-perfect equivalent; çizdim often still serves that role.
Other related forms:

çizmişim (inferential/reported past: “apparently I drew / I seem to have drawn”)
çizmiştim (pluperfect: “I had drawn” [before some past point]).

How should I pronounce the tricky sounds?

ı (in Toplantı) is a high back unrounded vowel, like the second vowel in English “roses” for many speakers: tO-plan-tUH (approx.).
ç is “ch” in “church”: çizdim ≈ “chiz-dim.”
Break the words cleanly: defter-e (def-te-re), es-kiz.

What’s the difference between eskiz, çizim, kroki, taslak, and karalama?

eskiz: a rough/initial sketch (common in art/architecture/design; from French).
çizim: a drawing in general (can be technical or artistic).
kroki: a rough plan/layout or quick map.
taslak: a draft/outline (not necessarily visual).
karalama: scribble/doodle.

Can I say Toplantı öncesinde or Toplantının öncesinde instead?

Yes.

Toplantı öncesinde = “in the period before the meeting”; very natural.
Toplantının öncesinde is the fully marked genitive-possessive version; a bit heavier/formal.
All of these are correct: toplantı öncesi, toplantıdan önce, toplantı öncesinde, toplantının öncesinde. Choose based on style and nuance.

How do I say “in my notebook”?

defterime = “into my notebook” (dative + 1sg possessive) → natural with çizmek/yazmak: Defterime küçük bir eskiz çizdim.
defterimde = “in my notebook” (locative + 1sg possessive) → used for locational emphasis or contrast: Onu defterimde çizdim.
To be very explicit: benim defterime = “into my notebook (mine, not someone else’s).”

Can I put the time phrase at the end?

Yes, especially with the postpositional form:

Deftere küçük bir eskiz çizdim toplantıdan önce.
With the noun-based form, ending placement is also possible but sounds a bit more written:
Deftere küçük bir eskiz çizdim toplantı öncesi.

How does vowel harmony show up in the suffixes here?

defter-e: dative is -a/-e; defter has a front vowel (e), so it takes -e.
çiz-di-m: past is -dı/-di/-du/-dü per last vowel; çiz ends in front vowel (i), so -di.
önce-si: possessive -sı/-si/-su/-sü; önce has front vowel, so -si.