Learn Hardcore Turkish: Annem, benim ne kadar çalıştığımı görüyor.

Annem = anne (mother) + -m (my) → my mother.
It is the subject of the main verb görüyor (my mother sees).
benim = ben (I) in the genitive case (my / of me).
It belongs to the embedded clause benim ne kadar çalıştığımı (how much I work), and marks who is working in that clause.

So:

Annem = the person who sees.
benim = the person who works (inside the subordinate clause).

It’s not redundant; Turkish needs benim to show the subject of the inner clause.

What exactly is the grammatical role of benim in benim ne kadar çalıştığımı?

Benim is the subject of the subordinate (embedded) clause, and it is in the genitive case.

In Turkish noun clauses formed with -DIK, the pattern is:

[subject in genitive] + [verb + -DIK + possessive ending]

Here:

benim = my / of me (genitive form of ben).
çalıştığımı = my working / that I work (verb + -DIK + 1st‑person possessive + accusative).

So benim ne kadar çalıştığımı literally behaves like “my how‑much‑working”, i.e. how much I work.

Other examples of the same pattern:

Benim geldiğimi biliyor. – He/she knows that I came.
Onun ne yaptığını gördüm. – I saw what he/she did.

Can benim be left out? Is Annem ne kadar çalıştığımı görüyor also correct?

Yes, you can omit benim in this sentence:

Annem ne kadar çalıştığımı görüyor.

This is natural and very common. The subject of the embedded clause is still clear from the -ım ending on çalıştığımı (1st person singular).

Nuance:

With benim:
- Slightly more explicit or contrastive: stressing that it’s I who works that much (my mother sees how much *I work*).
Without benim:
- More neutral; default, everyday style. No real change in core meaning.

So both are grammatical. Benim is optional here and mainly affects emphasis/clarity.

How is the word çalıştığımı built up? What does each part mean?

Morphological breakdown:

çalış- – root: to work
-tığ- – the -DIK nominalization suffix (appearing as -tığ here due to vowel harmony and consonant change)
-ım – 1st person singular possessive (my)
-ı – accusative case marker (-ı / -i / -u / -ü)

So:

çalış-tığ-ım-ı → my working (as an object) → that I work / how much I work (used as a noun-like phrase).

Functionally, çalıştığım behaves like a noun “my working”; the final -ı puts it in the accusative, making it the direct object of görüyor.

Why do we use a -DIK form like çalıştığımı instead of çalışıyorum or çalışmak?

Because we need a noun‑like clause that can act as the object of görüyor.

çalışıyorum – I am working (a full finite verb; makes its own sentence, cannot directly be the object here).
çalışmak – to work (infinitive; a verbal noun, but it doesn’t take a clear personal subject in the same genitive + possessive way).

For embedded clauses like “that I work / how much I work”, Turkish typically uses:

[genitive subject] + [verb + -DIK + possessive]

So:

benim çalıştığım – my working / that I work
benim ne kadar çalıştığım – how much I work
benim ne kadar çalıştığımı görüyor – she sees how much I work.

The -DIK form is what turns çalışmak into the right kind of noun clause that can serve as the object of another verb.

Why does çalıştığımı end in -ı (accusative)? Why not just çalıştığım?

Because benim ne kadar çalıştığımı is the direct object of görüyor, and it is a specific/definite thing that is being seen.

Turkish marks definite direct objects with the accusative case:

bunu görüyor – she sees this (bunu = accusative).
kitabı görüyor – she sees the book (kitap
- -ı).

Here:

benim ne kadar çalıştığım – how much I work (noun clause, no case yet).
benim ne kadar çalıştığımı – the same clause in accusative, acting as direct object of görüyor.

So -ı on çalıştığımı is simply the accusative ending for that whole clause.

What does ne kadar contribute here exactly? Does it mean "how much", "how hard", or "how long"?

Literally, ne kadar means how much / how many / how long (in amount). The exact nuance depends on context.

With çalışmak:

ne kadar çalışmak / çalıştığım normally means:
- how much I work (quantity or duration),
- and in everyday speech often suggests how hard I work (amount of effort, hours, etc.).

So here ne kadar çalıştığımı is best understood as:

how much I work, often naturally heard as:
how hard I work / how many hours I work.

The context decides whether we think of time, quantity, or effort, but the Turkish phrase itself is neutral “how much”.

Is the comma after Annem important? Does punctuation change the meaning?

No, the comma is not grammatically important. It just marks a pause in writing:

Annem, benim ne kadar çalıştığımı görüyor.
Annem benim ne kadar çalıştığımı görüyor.

Both are correct and mean the same. Commas in Turkish mostly help with readability and rhythm; they usually do not change the grammatical structure in cases like this.

Can we change the word order, like Benim ne kadar çalıştığımı annem görüyor? What would that mean?

Yes, word order is flexible, and this version is grammatical:

Annem benim ne kadar çalıştığımı görüyor.
Benim ne kadar çalıştığımı annem görüyor.
Benim ne kadar çalıştığımı, annem görüyor.

All three have the same core meaning. The difference is in emphasis:

(1) is neutral, ordinary: My mother sees how much I work.
(2) and (3) put Benim ne kadar çalıştığımı at the front, which can:
- highlight this whole clause as the topic,
- make annem sound a bit more contrastive (it’s my mother who sees this).

Grammatically, they’re equivalent; prosody (stress/intonation) in speech carries most of the emphasis.

Why do we use görüyor (present continuous) instead of görür (simple present)? What is the difference?

Both are possible but differ in nuance:

görüyor (present continuous):
- often describes something happening now / these days, or a current ongoing state.
- Here: My mother is (now) seeing / realizing how much I work — a present, perhaps new or developing awareness.
görür (aorist/simple present):
- expresses general facts, habits, tendencies.
- Annem benim ne kadar çalıştığımı görür. – My mother (as a rule, generally) sees how much I work.

Also, Turkish often uses -iyor where English would simply use the present simple, so Annem … görüyor usually translates as My mother sees …, not is seeing ….

Could we say Annem, benim ne kadar çalıştığımı biliyor instead of görüyor? How would that change the meaning?

Yes, that’s fine, but the meaning shifts slightly:

… görüyor – sees:
- Emphasis on perception / observation. She sees from what you do that you work a lot.
… biliyor – knows:
- Emphasis on knowledge / awareness. She knows how much you work (perhaps from observation, from what you tell her, or from general understanding).

Grammatically, both verbs take the same kind of object:

benim ne kadar çalıştığımı görüyor / biliyor – she sees/knows how much I work.

The structure stays the same; only the main verb’s meaning changes.