Learn Hardcore Turkish: Ders çalışırken sosyal medyayı kapatıyorum, yoksa dikkatimi toplayamıyorum. - While studying, I close social media; otherwise I cannot concentrate.

The base expression is ders çalışmak = “to study (for school/lessons)”.
çalışıyor iken = “while (someone) is studying”.
In everyday Turkish, -iyor iken contracts to -irken:
- çalışıyor iken → çalışırken
- So: ders çalışırken = “while studying”.

Use of -ken:

-ken attaches to:
- Verb forms: yürürken (while walking), yazarken (while writing).
- Some noun/adjective forms: evdeyken (while at home), yorgunken (when/while (I am) tired).
It expresses actions or states that happen at the same time as the main verb.

So the whole first clause is: Ders çalışırken sosyal medyayı kapatıyorum = “I turn off social media while I’m studying.”

Why is it sosyal medyayı and not just sosyal medya?

The -yı ending is the accusative case, used for specific/definite direct objects.

sosyal medya = “social media” (basic form)
sosyal medyayı = “the social media” / “my social media apps/pages (that I have open)” (specific, known to both speaker and listener)

In Turkish:

If the object is specific/definite, you normally mark it with accusative:
- Sosyal medyayı kapatıyorum. = I (specifically) close the social media.
If the object is non‑specific/indefinite, you usually don’t use accusative:
- Kitap okuyorum. = I am reading a book / I read books. (non‑specific)
- Kitabı okuyorum. = I am reading the book. (specific)

Here, the speaker is talking about their own open social media accounts/apps, which are specific, so sosyal medyayı is used. Saying just sosyal medya kapatıyorum would sound incomplete or ungrammatical.

Why do we use kapatıyorum instead of kapatırım?

Both are present tenses, but they have different nuances.

kapatıyorum = verb stem kapat- (to close) + -yor (present continuous) + -um (I)
- Typical meanings:
  - “I am closing” (right now/in progress)
  - “I (typically) close” (in a very current, concrete, personal way)
kapatırım = verb stem kapat-
- -r (aorist) + -ım (I)
  - Typical meanings:
  - General habits, rules, timeless facts: “I (usually) close”, “I close (as a rule).”

In this sentence:

kapatıyorum makes it feel like a real, personal, lived habit:
- “When I study, I close social media” (this is what I actually do in my life).
kapatırım would also be grammatically correct and mean something like:
- “Whenever I study, I (always) close social media” – a bit more like a general rule or policy.

Both are possible; kapatıyorum sounds more like current, concrete behavior.

What does yoksa mean here, and how is it different from ya da or aksi halde?

In this sentence, yoksa means “otherwise / or else”:

…, yoksa dikkatimi toplayamıyorum.
“…, otherwise I can’t concentrate.”

Key contrasts:

yoksa
- Here: a conjunction meaning “otherwise / if not / or else”.
- Links two clauses: If the first clause doesn’t happen, the second (negative) result happens.
- Very common in speech.
- Example: Acelem yok, yoksa koşardım. = I’m not in a hurry, otherwise I would run.
ya da
- Means “or” (offering alternatives).
- Does not mean “otherwise”.
- Example: Çay ya da kahve ister misin? = Do you want tea or coffee?
aksi halde / aksi takdirde
- More formal versions of “otherwise”.
- Example: Sosyal medyayı kapatmalısın, aksi halde dikkatini toplayamazsın.
  You must turn off social media, otherwise you won’t be able to concentrate.

Note: yoksa can also appear in questions with a different nuance:

Gelmedin, yoksa hasta mısın? = You didn’t come, or are you (by any chance) sick?

How is dikkatimi formed, and what’s the difference between dikkatim and dikkatimi?

Base word: dikkat = “attention”.

Add 1st person singular possessive (my):
- dikkat + im → dikkatim = my attention (in basic/nominative form)
Put that possessed noun into accusative (as a direct object):
- dikkatim + i → dikkatimi
- The two i’s merge, so you get dikkatimi.

So:

dikkatim = “my attention” (subject or generic noun form)
- Dikkatim dağınık. = My attention is scattered.
dikkatimi = “my attention” as a direct object (what you focus/lose/collect)
- Dikkatimi toplayamıyorum. = I can’t collect/gather my attention → I can’t concentrate.

In this sentence, dikkatimi is the object of toplayamıyorum, so the accusative form is required.

Can you break down toplayamıyorum morphologically? Why is there a -ya- and a -m-?

toplayamıyorum roughly means “I can’t gather / I can’t collect”, and with dikkatimi it means “I can’t concentrate.”

Breakdown:

topla- = verb stem “to collect, gather”
-yA- = linking vowel ability
slot (seen in “can/cannot” forms)
- Before a vowel, topla- becomes toplay-.
-m- = negative of the ability (part of the “cannot” pattern)
-ıyor- = present continuous
-um = 1st person singular “I”

So:

topla + y + a + m + ıyor + um → toplayamıyorum

Compare:

toplayabiliyorum = topla + y + a + biliyor + um → “I can gather”
toplayamıyorum = “I cannot gather”

Also compare with simple negation (without “can”):

topluyorum = I am gathering.
toplamıyorum = I am not gathering (just not doing it, no idea of inability).

So:

toplamıyorum = I’m not gathering (because I don’t want to / I’m not doing it).
toplayamıyorum = I can’t gather (I’m unable to).

In the sentence, the idea is inability to concentrate, so toplayamıyorum is the right form.

Could we say ders çalıştığımda instead of ders çalışırken? Is there a difference?

Yes, you can say both; they are close in meaning but with a nuance difference.

ders çalışırken
- Literally: “while (I am) studying”.
- Emphasizes the time period during which the action is happening (overlapping in time).
ders çalıştığımda
- Form: ders çalıştığımda = “when I study / when I am studying”.
  - çalıştığım = “that I study / that I am studying”
  - -da = “in/at/when”
- Emphasizes “whenever/when” as a point or occasion rather than the ongoing process.

In your sentence:

Ders çalışırken sosyal medyayı kapatıyorum…
= While I’m in the process of studying, I close social media…
Ders çalıştığımda sosyal medyayı kapatıyorum…
= When(ever) I study, I close social media…

Both sound natural. -ken feels a bit more like “during studying”, focusing on the overlap in time.

Is the word order fixed? Can I move parts like ders çalışırken or yoksa?

Turkish word order is relatively flexible, but there are default patterns and some constraints.

Default order in the sentence:

[Time clause] [Object] [Verb], [Connector] [Object] [Verb]
Ders çalışırken sosyal medyayı kapatıyorum, yoksa dikkatimi toplayamıyorum.

You can move things around for emphasis:

Sosyal medyayı, ders çalışırken kapatıyorum, yoksa dikkatimi toplayamıyorum.
(Emphasis more on sosyal medyayı.)
Ders çalışırken, sosyal medyayı kapatıyorum; yoksa dikkatimi toplayamıyorum.
(Comma or semicolon just adds a pause.)

However:

yoksa should stay at the beginning of its clause:
- …, yoksa dikkatimi toplayamıyorum. (natural)
- …, dikkatimi yoksa toplayamıyorum. (unnatural/wrong)

General rule:

Time/manner phrases like ders çalışırken can appear at the beginning or sometimes later in the sentence.
The main verb normally comes at the end of its clause.
Conjunctions like yoksa usually start the clause they belong to.

Why don’t we say ben in the sentence? How do we know the subject is “I”?

In Turkish, the verb ending shows the subject, so subject pronouns (ben, sen, o, biz, siz, onlar) are often omitted.

Look at the endings:

kapat-ıyor-um:
- -um = 1st person singular → I close.
toplayamıyor-um:
- -um = 1st person singular → I can’t gather.

So even without ben, you know the subject is “I”.

Ben sosyal medyayı kapatıyorum. = I close social media.
Sosyal medyayı kapatıyorum. = I close social media. (default interpretation)

You add ben mainly when you want to emphasize I (and not someone else):

Ben sosyal medyayı kapatıyorum, yoksa dikkatimi toplayamıyorum.
= I close social media (not others), otherwise I can’t concentrate.

Could we leave out dikkatimi and just say toplayamıyorum? Would the meaning change?

Grammatically, you can drop dikkatimi, but the meaning becomes vague and, in this context, unnatural.

dikkatimi toplayamıyorum =
- literally: “I can’t gather my attention”
- idiomatically: “I can’t concentrate / I can’t focus.”

If you say just:

toplayamıyorum = “I can’t gather/collect (it/them).”

Without an object, the listener has to guess:

Can’t gather what? My thoughts? My things? The toys? Myself?

In real Turkish, to mean “I can’t concentrate”, speakers usually say:

Dikkatimi toplayamıyorum.
or use another verb:
- Odaklanamıyorum. = I can’t focus.
- Kafamı toparlayamıyorum. = I can’t get my head together.

So in your sentence, you should keep dikkatimi if you want the clear meaning “I can’t concentrate.”