Akşam sahilde yürürken kestane aldık.

We bought chestnuts while walking on the seaside in the evening.

Breakdown of Akşam sahilde yürürken kestane aldık.

• almak: to buy
• akşam: evening
• yürümek: to walk
• -de: at

Questions & Answers about Akşam sahilde yürürken kestane aldık.

What does yürürken mean exactly, and how is it formed?

Yürürken means “while (we were) walking” or “as (we) walked”.

Structure:

• yürür- → verb stem / aorist base of yürümek (to walk)
• -ken → “while / when” suffix

So:

• yürür + ken → yürürken = “while walking”

It’s a way to express a background, ongoing action that happens at the same time as the main verb (aldık). The main event is “we bought chestnuts,” and the background is “while (we were) walking on the beach.”

Why is it yürürken and not yürüyorken?

Both yürürken and yürüyorken are grammatically possible, but:

• yürürken is more natural and common.
• yürüyorken emphasizes the progressive aspect a bit more (literally built on yürüyor “is walking”), and can sound heavier or more marked in many contexts.

In everyday speech, Turkish often uses:

• aorist + -ken: yürürken, otururken, konuşurken, etc., to mean “while doing X.”

So Akşam sahilde yürürken kestane aldık is the preferred, more idiomatic way to say this.

What does the -de in sahilde mean?