Learn Hardcore Turkish: Yatmadan önce her zaman pencereleri kontrol ediyorum. - Before going to bed, I always check the windows.

yat- = the verb stem “to lie down / to go to bed”
-ma- = the negative / verbal noun suffix here used to make a verbal noun / gerund (like “lying / going to bed”)
-dan (from -den/-dan) = ablative case, often meaning “from”
önce = “before”

So yat-ma-dan önce is like saying:

“before (from) lying down” → “before going to bed”

This -madan/-meden + önce pattern is very common:

yemeden önce – before eating
çıkmadan önce – before going out

Why is yatmadan used instead of something that looks like “before I sleep” or “before I go to bed” with a subject?

In Turkish, when you use this -madan/-meden + önce structure, you don’t repeat the subject inside the -madan verb; it’s understood from the main sentence.

Yatmadan önce her zaman pencereleri kontrol ediyorum.
= “Before I go to bed, I always check the windows.”

The “I” (subject) is already clear from ediyorum (1st person singular), so Turkish doesn’t say “ben yatmadan önce” with a full finite verb like English does (“before I go to bed”). Instead, it uses a verbal noun: yatmadan (“before going to bed”).

You could optionally say Ben yatmadan önce..., but ben is not needed grammatically; it’s usually dropped unless you want to emphasize I.

Why is there no “I” in the Turkish sentence? Where is the subject?

The subject “I” is hidden inside the verb form ediyorum.

et- = verb stem “to do”
-iyor = present continuous marker
-um = “I” (1st person singular ending)

So ediyorum already means “I am doing”.
Because of this, Turkish normally omits subject pronouns like ben unless they need emphasis.

So:

Ben yatmadan önce her zaman pencereleri kontrol ediyorum. – perfectly correct, emphasizes I.
Yatmadan önce her zaman pencereleri kontrol ediyorum. – natural, default version.

Why do we say kontrol ediyorum instead of just a single verb like in English “I check”?

Turkish often forms verbs from nouns using etmek (“to do, to make”) as a light verb.

kontrol = a noun borrowed from French/English (“control, check, inspection”)
etmek = “to do”

Together:

kontrol etmek = “to check / to inspect”
kontrol ediyorum = “I am checking / I check”

This noun + etmek pattern is extremely common:

yardım etmek – to help (literally: to do help)
telefon etmek – to make a phone call
prova etmek – to rehearse

So kontrol ediyorum is just the normal Turkish way to say “I check” in this context.

Why is the verb in the present continuous (ediyorum) when the English sentence is a habitual action (“I always check”)?

In Turkish, present continuous (-iyor) is often used for:

Right now actions:
- Şu anda pencereleri kontrol ediyorum. – I am checking the windows right now.
Regular / habitual actions (similar to English simple present), especially with adverbs like her zaman (always), sık sık (often), etc.:
- Her sabah kahve içiyorum. – I (always) drink coffee every morning.
- Yatmadan önce her zaman pencereleri kontrol ediyorum. – I always check the windows before going to bed.

You can also express habit with the aorist/simple present (-er/-ar) in Turkish:

Yatmadan önce her zaman pencereleri kontrol ederim.

Both are correct.
ediyorum feels a bit more colloquial / conversational, ederim a bit more neutral or “timeless”. In everyday speech, ediyorum is extremely common for habits.

What is the role of her zaman in the sentence, and can it be placed elsewhere?

her zaman means “always”.

In the sentence:

Yatmadan önce her zaman pencereleri kontrol ediyorum.

word-by-word is roughly:

“Before going to bed always the windows I-check.”

her zaman modifies kontrol ediyorum (“I check”), saying how often you do it.

You can move her zaman around without changing the core meaning:

Her zaman yatmadan önce pencereleri kontrol ediyorum.
Yatmadan önce pencereleri her zaman kontrol ediyorum.

All are acceptable. Small differences are about emphasis and rhythm, but the meaning remains “I always check the windows before going to bed.”

Why is pencereleri used instead of just pencereler or pencere?

pencereleri is:

pencere = window
pencereler = windows
pencereleri = “the windows” as a direct object (plural + accusative)

In Turkish, a definite direct object (like “the windows”) usually takes the accusative case (-i / -ı / -u / -ü, often realized as -yi / -yı / -yu / -yü after vowels). For a plural noun like pencereler, it becomes pencereleri.

So:

Pencereler açık. – The windows are open. (subject, nominative)
Pencereleri açıyorum. – I am opening the windows. (definite object, accusative)

In your sentence, you’re talking about specific windows (e.g., all the windows in your home), so Turkish marks them as definite with -i:

pencereleri kontrol ediyorum – “I check the windows.”

Can pencereleri also mean “his/her/their windows”? How do we know what it means here?

Yes, pencereleri is formally ambiguous in isolation:

It can mean:

“(the) windows” (plural accusative – definite object)
“their window(s)” (3rd person plural possessive, subject or object)
“his/her windows” in some contexts (3rd singular possessor + plural possessed)

Examples:

Pencereleri boyadılar.
Could be “They painted the windows” or “They painted their windows.”

Context normally tells you which reading is intended.

In your sentence:

Yatmadan önce her zaman pencereleri kontrol ediyorum.

The neutral, most natural interpretation is “I always check the windows” (the windows of my house/room). If you wanted to clearly say “their windows”, you would normally add extra context, e.g.:

Komşular eve gelince onların pencerelerini kontrol ediyorum.
“When the neighbors come home, I check their windows.”

Why isn’t there a word like “the” before pencereleri in Turkish?

Turkish does not have articles like “a / an / the”.

Instead, definiteness is indicated by:

word order
case endings, especially the accusative (-i) for objects.

So:

pencere – (a) window / window (general)
pencereler – windows
pencereyi – the window (as a direct object)
pencereleri – the windows (as a direct object)

In your sentence, pencereleri is marked with -i, so it is definite → corresponds to “the windows” in English, even though Turkish doesn’t use a separate word for “the”.

Could we say “Yatmadan önce her zaman pencerelerİ kontrol ederim” instead? What would change?

Two separate issues here:

Verb form:
- kontrol ediyorum (present continuous)
- kontrol ederim (aorist/simple present)

Both can express habit.
ederim can sound slightly more neutral, matter-of-fact, sometimes a bit more formal or “statement-like.”
ediyorum is very common in spoken Turkish for habitual actions.

Object form:
- You should still keep pencereleri (accusative) if you mean “the windows” as a definite object.
  So the fully correct version is:
- Yatmadan önce her zaman pencereleri kontrol ederim.

This is perfectly grammatical and means essentially the same thing:

“I (always) check the windows before going to bed.”

So yes, you can say it with ederim, and it’s correct; the meaning difference is subtle.

Is the word order Yatmadan önce her zaman pencereleri kontrol ediyorum fixed, or can we rearrange it?

Turkish word order is fairly flexible, but the default is:

[Time] – [Frequency] – [Object] – [Verb]

Your sentence follows this pattern:

Yatmadan önce – time (before going to bed)
her zaman – frequency (always)
pencereleri – object (the windows)
kontrol ediyorum – verb (I check)

You can move some parts for emphasis:

Her zaman yatmadan önce pencereleri kontrol ediyorum.
Pencereleri yatmadan önce her zaman kontrol ediyorum.

They are all understandable.
The verb normally stays at the end, and moving other elements mainly changes what you emphasize or make more “topical” in the sentence.

Could I use uyumadan önce instead of yatmadan önce? Do they mean the same thing?

You can say uyumadan önce, and it’s perfectly correct:

Uyumadan önce her zaman pencereleri kontrol ediyorum.

uyumak = to sleep
yatmak = to lie down / to go to bed

In many daily contexts, yatmak is used as “to go to bed (to sleep)”, so:

Yatmadan önce – before going to bed
Uyumadan önce – before sleeping

In practice, they often overlap.
Yatmadan önce might feel slightly more like “before I go to bed,”
Uyumadan önce slightly more like “before I fall asleep,”
but in everyday speech they are usually interchangeable in a sentence like this.