Learn Hardcore Turkish: Bavul çok ağır olsa da kimseye taşıtmak istemiyorum. - Even if the suitcase is very heavy, I don’t want to have anyone carry it.

Clitic “de/da” = “also, too, even, and/but”
- Example: Ben de geliyorum. = “I’m coming too.”
- Example: Yorgunum, ama çalışacağım da. = “I’m tired, but I’ll still work.”
Conjunction “da” after a conditional = “even though / although”
- Example: Hava kötü olsa da gidiyoruz. = “Even though the weather is bad, we’re going.”

In “olsa da”, the da is functioning as part of a concessive conjunction:
(çok ağır) olsa da → “even though (it is very heavy)”.

It’s not “also” or “too” here.

Why is it kimseye and not kimseyi? I thought people usually take -i as an object.

The form kimseye is dative case (-e / -a), not accusative (-i / -ı / -u / -ü).

kimse = “anyone / anyone at all / nobody” (with negation)
kimseye = “to anyone / to anybody”

With causative verbs like taşıtmak, the person who actually does the action is normally in the dative case, because you are causing that person to do something:

Çantayı Ahmet’e taşıttım.
= “I had Ahmet carry the bag.”
(Ahmet’e = to Ahmet, the person made to carry)

So here:

kimseye taşıtmak = “to make anyone carry (it)” / “to have anybody carry (it)”

If you said kimseyi taşıtmak, it would sound wrong or at least very odd, because kimse would then look like the direct object (“to make anyone be carried”), which is not the intended meaning.

But doesn’t kimse usually mean “nobody”? How can it mean “anyone” here?

Kimse is a negative-polarity pronoun in Turkish. Its meaning depends on whether the verb is affirmative or negative:

With a negative verb, kimse = “nobody / no one”
- Kimse gelmedi. = “Nobody came.”
- Kimseyi görmedim. = “I didn’t see anyone / I saw nobody.”
With questions or conditionals, it often corresponds to English “anyone”:
- Buraya kimse geliyor mu? = “Does anyone come here?”
- Kimse yardım ederse… = “If anyone helps…”

In your sentence:

istemiyorum is negative (“I don’t want”),
so kimseye … istemiyorum = literally “I don’t want (it) carried by anybody”, i.e.
“I don’t want anyone to carry it / I don’t want to have anyone carry it.”

So the combination kimse + negative verb gives the sense “nobody / no one / not anyone”.

What exactly does taşıtmak mean, and how is it formed from taşımak?

Base verb:

taşımak = “to carry”

Causative formation:

taşı- (stem)
-t- (causative suffix)
-mak (infinitive ending)

So taşı-t-mak = “to have something carried / to make someone carry something”.

Examples:

Çantayı çocuğa taşıttım.
= “I made the child carry the bag.” / “I had the child carry the bag.”
Arabayı tamirciye tamir ettirdim. (similar pattern with ettirmek)
= “I had the car repaired by the mechanic.”

In your sentence:

kimseye taşıtmak = “to make anyone carry (it)” / “to have anybody carry (it)”.

Why do we use taşıtmak here instead of just taşımak?

Because the meaning is “I don’t want to get anyone else to carry it for me”, not “I don’t want to carry it (myself).”

taşımak = “to carry (yourself)”
- Bavulu taşımak istemiyorum.
  = “I don’t want to carry the suitcase.”
taşıtmak = “to have/make someone else carry it”
- Bavul çok ağır olsa da kimseye taşıtmak istemiyorum.
  = “Even though the suitcase is very heavy, I don’t want to have anyone carry it (for me).”

So taşıtmak emphasizes using someone else to do the carrying.

Where is the word “it” in the Turkish sentence? In English we say “carry it”, but I don’t see a pronoun.

Turkish often omits pronouns and even objects if they are obvious from context.

Here, the object of taşıtmak is the suitcase (bavul) mentioned earlier, so it doesn’t need to be repeated:

Literally: “Even though the suitcase is very heavy, I don’t want to have anyone carry (Ø).”

The missing object is mentally filled in as “it” (the suitcase).

If you want to state the object explicitly, you can say:

Bavul çok ağır olsa da, bavulu kimseye taşıtmak istemiyorum.
= “Even though the suitcase is very heavy, I don’t want to have anyone carry the suitcase.”

But leaving it out, as in the original, is very natural in Turkish.

Shouldn’t it be “bavulu” with -u (accusative)? Why is it just bavul?

In Turkish, a direct object doesn’t always need the accusative ending. The -ı / -i / -u / -ü ending is mostly used when the object is specific/definite.

Bavul alacağım. = “I will buy a suitcase.” (non‑specific, no accusative)
Bavulu alacağım. = “I will buy the suitcase.” (specific/known one)

In your sentence, “Bavul çok ağır olsa da …”:

bavul is in the subject position of the first clause, so it does not take accusative.
It’s not the object there; it’s “The suitcase is very heavy…”

If you want to mark it clearly as the object of taşıtmak in the second clause, then you’d say:

Bavul çok ağır olsa da, bavulu kimseye taşıtmak istemiyorum.

The given version simply doesn’t restate bavul as an object with a case ending in the second clause; it is understood from context and from the causative verb taşıtmak.

Why is it istemiyorum (present continuous) and not istemem (simple present)?

Turkish uses -iyor very broadly as a “present time” form, not only for literal ongoing actions. İstemiyorum is the most common, natural way to say “I don’t want (to)” in everyday speech.

Nuances:

istemiyorum
- “I don’t want (to)” right now / in this situation.
- Neutral, conversational.
istemem
- More like a general/habitual statement: “I wouldn’t want / I don’t (ever) want.”
- Can also sound like a firm refusal or strong stance depending on context.

In your sentence, the speaker is talking about their current attitude in this situation (the heavy suitcase), so istemiyorum fits perfectly:

… kimseye taşıtmak istemiyorum.
= “I don’t want to have anyone carry it.”

Can the word order be changed? For example, can I say “Kimseye bavulu taşıtmak istemiyorum”?

Yes, Turkish word order is fairly flexible, especially for elements before the verb. Some possible versions:

Bavul çok ağır olsa da, kimseye taşıtmak istemiyorum.
(Original; focus later on “kimseye taşıtmak istemiyorum.”)
Bavul çok ağır olsa da, bavulu kimseye taşıtmak istemiyorum.
(Explicit object bavulu.)
Kimseye bavulu taşıtmak istemiyorum, bavul çok ağır olsa da.
(Starts with “To no one do I want to have the suitcase carried, even though it’s very heavy.”)

General rule: Most information comes before the verb, and slight changes in order can change emphasis. The original order is very natural and neutral in emphasis.

Why isn’t “ben” used? How do we know the subject is “I”?

Turkish is a pro‑drop language: subject pronouns are often omitted because the verb ending already shows the person.

istemiyorum
- -yor = present continuous
- -um = 1st person singular “I”

So:

(Ben) istemiyorum.
Literally both are possible, but “Ben” is usually dropped unless you want to emphasize it:
Ben kimseye taşıtmak istemiyorum.
= “I don’t want to have anyone carry it (but maybe others do).”

In the neutral sentence, no “ben” is needed, and the -um on istemiyorum already tells us the subject is “I”.