Dereotu olmadan bu yoğurtlu salata eksik kalıyor; annem de hep öyle söylüyor.

Turkish does not use articles like a or the.

So dereotu simply means dill, and whether it is understood as the dill, some dill, or dill in general depends on context.

In this sentence, dereotu olmadan means without dill.

Olmadan means without being / without having.

It comes from:

• olmak = to be, to become
• -madan / -meden = without doing

So:

• olmadan = without being

After a noun, this often works like English without:

• şeker olmadan = without sugar
• su olmadan = without water
• dereotu olmadan = without dill

It is a very common Turkish pattern.

Yes, it could.

• dereotsuz = dill-less / without dill
• dereotu olmadan = without dill

Both are possible, but they feel slightly different:

• dereotsuz salata describes the salad as a dill-free salad
• dereotu olmadan bu yoğurtlu salata eksik kalıyor emphasizes the condition if there is no dill

So olmadan sounds a bit more like when it doesn’t have dill / in the absence of dill.

Yoğurtlu means with yogurt or yogurt-based.

It uses the suffix -lı / -li / -lu / -lü, which means with, having, containing.

Examples:

• tuzlu = salty / with salt
• peynirli = with cheese
• etli = with meat
• yoğurtlu = with yogurt

So yoğurtlu salata is literally salad with yogurt.

Bu means this.

So:

• yoğurtlu salata = yogurt salad / a yogurt salad
• bu yoğurtlu salata = this yogurt salad

The speaker is talking about a specific salad, not yogurt salad in general.

Literally, eksik kalıyor means something like it remains lacking or it ends up incomplete.

Parts:

• eksik = missing, lacking, incomplete
• kalmak = to stay, remain
• kalıyor = is remaining / remains

Together, eksik kalmak is a common expression meaning:

• to be incomplete
• to feel like something is missing
• to fall short because one element is absent

In natural English here, it means something like This yogurt salad feels incomplete without dill.

Turkish -yor forms are often called the present continuous, but in real usage they do more than just describe something happening right now.

Here kalıyor expresses a general, repeated, or characteristic result:

• Without dill, this salad turns out incomplete / feels incomplete

Similarly, söylüyor with hep means:

• my mother always says that

So even though -yor often gets translated as is doing, it can also describe habits, regular truths, or what usually happens.

Yes, that is possible, but the nuance changes a bit.

• eksik kalır sounds more like a general rule or timeless statement
• eksik kalıyor sounds more vivid, more conversational, and closer to it ends up being incomplete
• annem hep öyle söyler sounds like a plain habitual statement
• annem de hep öyle söylüyor sounds very natural in speech and can feel more immediate

In everyday Turkish, speakers often use -yor for repeated actions too, especially in spoken language.

Yes, Turkish word order is flexible.

This sentence begins with Dereotu olmadan to emphasize the missing ingredient first:

• Dereotu olmadan bu yoğurtlu salata eksik kalıyor.

You could also say:

• Bu yoğurtlu salata dereotu olmadan eksik kalıyor.

Both are grammatical. The original version gives more focus to without dill.

That kind of fronting is very common in Turkish.

Annem means my mother.

It is formed from:

• anne = mother
• -m = my

So Turkish often builds possession directly onto the noun instead of using a separate word like my.

Examples:

• annem = my mother
• babam = my father
• evim = my house
• kitabım = my book

That is why there is no separate word for my here.

Here de means too / also.

So:

• annem de = my mother too / my mother also

It connects the second clause to the first idea:

• The speaker thinks the salad is incomplete without dill.
• My mother thinks so too.

A key point: this de is written separately.

Compare:

• de = also, too
• -de = in, on, at (location suffix, written attached)

So here it must be separate: annem de.

Hep means always.

So:

• annem de hep öyle söylüyor = my mother always says so too

It shows that this is not a one-time comment. The mother says it repeatedly or consistently.

Öyle means so, like that, or that way.

In this sentence, it refers back to the whole previous idea:

• Without dill, this yogurt salad is incomplete
• My mother always says so too

So öyle söylüyor means says it that way / says the same thing.

The semicolon links two closely related statements:

1. Dereotu olmadan bu yoğurtlu salata eksik kalıyor
2. annem de hep öyle söylüyor

It shows that the second part supports the first.

In everyday writing, many people would also write this as two sentences or use a comma, depending on style:

• Dereotu olmadan bu yoğurtlu salata eksik kalıyor. Annem de hep öyle söylüyor.

So the semicolon is a punctuation choice, not a special grammar rule.

It is natural Turkish.

Especially natural points include:

• dereotu olmadan for without dill
• eksik kalıyor for it feels incomplete / something is missing
• annem de hep öyle söylüyor for my mother always says so too

A native speaker might also say similar versions, such as:

• Bu yoğurtlu salata dereotu olmadan eksik kalıyor.
• Dereotu olmayınca bu salata eksik oluyor.
• Annem de hep aynısını söylüyor.

But the original sentence sounds normal and idiomatic.