Learn Hardcore Turkish: Kulüp toplantısı kalabalık olsa da herkes sırayla konuştu. - Even if the club meeting was crowded, everyone spoke in turn.

olsa = the aorist/subjunctive form of olmak (to be) → (even) if it were / though it is
da here is a concessive particle → it adds the meaning but / even so / still

So kalabalık olsa da literally feels like:

even if it is/was crowded → even though it was crowded

This is different from da used as a simple and/but/also after nouns, e.g. ben de = me too.
In olsa da, you should treat it as one unit: “even though X”.

Why is it Kulüp toplantısı and not Kulübün toplantısı? Aren’t both “club meeting”?

Both Kulüp toplantısı and Kulübün toplantısı are possible, but they are used slightly differently.

Kulüp toplantısı
- A compound noun: kulüp
  - toplantı
    - -sı (3rd person possessive)
- Very natural, compact way to say the club meeting
- Sounds like a standard name/type of meeting.
Kulübün toplantısı
- kulüp
  - -ün (genitive) + toplantı
    - -sı (possessive)
- Literally the meeting of the club
- Slightly more explicit; can sound more formal or emphasize belonging.

In everyday Turkish, for common concepts like kulüp toplantısı, öğretmenler odası, yıl sonu sınavı, the genitive -un is often dropped and just the compound form is used.
So Kulüp toplantısı is the default, natural choice here.

Why is there no -dı or idi with kalabalık? How can it mean “was crowded” without a past tense marker?

In the clause Kulüp toplantısı kalabalık olsa da, the word kalabalık is part of a subordinate clause built with olsa.

The structure is: [subject] + [adjective] + olsa da
olsa already provides the verbal core (if it were / even though it is/was), so we do not say kalabalıktı olsa da.

The past meaning in the whole sentence comes from konuştu (past tense) in the main clause. Turkish often marks tense only in the main verb, and the subordinate clause is more “neutral” in tense, understood from context.

So:

Kulüp toplantısı kalabalık olsa da → even though the club meeting was crowded
The “was” sense is understood from konuştu (spoke).

What exactly is the role of olsa here? Is it conditional, like “if”?

Grammatically, olsa is the aorist + conditional/subjunctive form of olmak, so yes, it comes from the same form used for if-clauses:

olsa → (if it) is/were

But in the fixed pattern X olsa da, the function is usually concessive, meaning although / even though, not a real conditional.

You can think of it as:

kalabalık olsa da → even if / even though it is/was crowded

So, structurally it’s conditional-ish, but functionally you read it as although rather than a real if condition with a consequence.

Could you replace kalabalık olsa da with kalabalık olmasına rağmen? What’s the difference?

Yes, you can say:

Kulüp toplantısı kalabalık olmasına rağmen herkes sırayla konuştu.

This also means although/even though the club meeting was crowded.

Nuance:

olsa da
- More common in spoken language
- Slightly shorter and lighter
- Very flexible and idiomatic
olmasına rağmen
- A bit more formal or written-sounding
- Feels slightly heavier, more explicit: despite its being crowded

Meaning-wise, there’s no big difference here; both are natural. The original sentence simply uses the more compact, conversational option.

Why is it herkes konuştu and not herkes konuştular? Isn’t herkes plural?

In Turkish, herkes (everyone) is grammatically singular, even though it refers to many people.

Therefore:

herkes konuştu = correct
herkes konuştular = incorrect and sounds very wrong

Other similar words behave the same way:

kimse gelmedi (nobody came)
çoğu gitti (most of them went)

So you always use 3rd person singular verb forms with herkes.

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

Sırayla means in turn / one by one / in order.

Form:

sıra = line, order, turn
ile = with, by
sıra ile → in careful writing
In speech and normal writing, ile often attaches and softens: sırayla

So sırayla konuştu literally feels like spoke with order / by turn, i.e., they took turns speaking.

Similar patterns:

yavaş yavaş = slowly, gradually
tek tek = one by one
sırayla fits into this semantic family: ordered, one-at-a-time action.

Could we say Kulüp toplantısı kalabalıktı ama herkes sırayla konuştu instead? How does that compare to olsa da?

Yes, that’s perfectly correct:

Kulüp toplantısı kalabalıktı ama herkes sırayla konuştu.

Comparison:

kalabalıktı ama
- Two separate clauses:
  - Kulüp toplantısı kalabalıktı.
  - Ama herkes sırayla konuştu.
- ama = but
- Very straightforward: It was crowded, but...
kalabalık olsa da
- Concessive subordinate clause → baked into the beginning:
  - Even though it was crowded, ...
- Slightly more fluent/compact and a bit more “polished” style.

Both express the same idea; olsa da just packages the contrast more tightly in one clause.

Why is it Kulüp toplantısı kalabalık olsa da and not Kulüp toplantısı kalabalıkken?

You can say:

Kulüp toplantısı kalabalıkken herkes sırayla konuştu.

But -ken focuses on time: while the meeting was crowded.
It doesn’t emphasize the contrast as strongly.

Differences:

kalabalık olsa da
- Concessive: even though / although
- Emphasizes that the situation is surprising or contrary to expectation.
kalabalıkken
- Temporal: while / when it was crowded
- Just provides a background condition, not necessarily surprising.

In this sentence, the whole point is “Despite being crowded, things stayed orderly”, so olsa da is more precise.

What tense/time is olsa? The main verb is konuştu in past, but olsa doesn’t look past.

Olsa itself is not marked for past. It’s:

the aorist/subjunctive stem ol-
- -sa (conditional/subjunctive ending)

As a standalone form, olsa can refer to present or hypothetical situations:

O güzel olsa, alırım. – If it is/was nice, I’ll buy it.

In olsa da, the actual time is inferred from the main verb. Since konuştu is past:

kalabalık olsa da → understood as even though it was crowded

This is very typical in Turkish: subordinate forms like -sa, -ken, -ince, -diği zaman, etc., often get their time reference from the main verb of the sentence.

Is kulüp pronounced with a long ü? How is toplantısı stressed?

Pronunciation:

kulüp: [kuˈlyp]
- The ü is short, like German ü or French u in lune.
- Stress is usually on the second syllable: ku-LÜP.
toplantısı: [topɫanˈtɯsɯ]
- Syllables: top-lan-tı-sı
- In most standard Turkish words with suffixes, stress is on the last syllable: toplan-TI-sı → toplan-tı-SI (the very last vowel is often slightly weaker, but the main stress is near the end).

So the natural rhythm:
Ku-LÜP top-lan-tı-SI ka-la-ba-LIK ol-SA da HER-kes sı-RAY-la ko-NUŞ-tu.